The Small Business Technology Investment Boost and Small Business Skills and Training Boost were announced as budget measures for 2022-23, in March 2022, and have now become law on 23 June 2023.

The Small Business Technology Investment Boost is available for expenditure incurred between 29 March 2022 and 30 June 2023. The Small Business Skills Training Boost is accessible for the same period and will also continue to be available until 30 June 2024.

The new boosts apply to small businesses with aggregated turnover of less than $50 million and there are specific criteria to meet in order to be eligible.

Continue reading for more information.

Small Business Technology Investment Boost

The Small Business Technology Investment Boost allows small businesses to deduct an additional 20% of the cost of expenses and depreciating assets related to digital operations.

The Boost applies to expenses or depreciating assets (first used or installed ready for use) between 29 March 2022 and 30 June 2023. There is an expenditure annual cap of $100,000 for each income year and, therefore, a maximum bonus deduction of $20,000 is available per year.

Amongst the eligible expenses, are:

• Digital media and marketing, including web page design.
• Computer and telecommunications equipment, hardware, software, and internet costs.
• Portable payment devices.
• Subscriptions to cloud-based services.
• E-commerce investment, including advice about digital tools that support business growth.
• Cyber security and backup management systems.

Small business skills and training boost

The Small Business skills and Training boost allows small businesses to deduct an additional 20% bonus deduction for expenditure on external training courses provided to employees.

To be eligible, an employer is required to provide training to employees of their business and be charged for this training by an external training provider that is not associated to them.

Additionally, there are specific registration criteria for the training providers. One of the key conditions is that the training provider must be registered with one of the following government authorities at the time the expenditure is incurred:

• Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency
• Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA)
• Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority
• Training Accreditation Council of Western Australia

The boost is available for expenditure incurred between 29 March 2022 and 30 June 2024 and applies only to training that would be deductible for your business already (i.e. training that is sufficiently related to the income generating activity or employee’s current role).

To note as well that if the training is not an isolated expense, but instead part of a course or an ongoing program, the initial enrolment process must have been entered into after 29 March 2022.

For further advice, please contact one of our friendly team members.

We are available on 0416 919 036 or contact@gpgbusinessadvisory.com.au.