Who can access the boosts?
The 120% skills and training, and technology boosts are available to small business entities (individual sole traders, partnership, company or trading trust) with an aggregated annual turnover of less than $50 million.
$20k technology investment boost
The Technology Investment Boost provides SMEs with a bonus deduction for expenses and depreciating assets for digital operations or digitising from 29 March 2022 until 30 June 2023.
The types of expenses that might be eligible for the technology boost include:
- Digital enabling items – computer and telecommunications hardware and equipment, software, internet costs, systems and services that form and facilitate the use of computer networks;
- Digital media and marketing – audio and visual content that can be created, accessed, stored or viewed on digital devices, including web page design;
- E-commerce – goods or services supporting digitally ordered or platform-enabled online transactions, portable payment devices, digital inventory management, subscriptions to cloud-based services, and advice on digital operations or digitising operations, such as advice about digital tools to support business continuity and growth; or
- Cyber security – cyber security systems, backup management and monitoring services.
The boost will not apply to:
- Assets that you purchased but then sold within the relevant period (e.g., on or prior to 30 June 2023).
- Capital works costs (for example, improvements to a building used as business premises).
- Financing costs such as interest expenses.
- Salary or wage costs.
- Training or education costs, that is, training staff on software or technology won’t qualify (see Skills and Training Boost).
- Trading stock or the cost of trading stock.
The Skills and Training Boost
The aim of this boost is to help SMEs grow their workforce, including taking on less-skilled employees and upskilling them using external training to develop their skills and enhance their productivity.
Sole traders, partners in a partnership, independent contractors and other non-employees do not qualify for the boost as they are not employees. Similarly, associates such as spouses or partners, or trustees of a trust, don’t qualify.
As always, there are a few rules:
- Registration for the training course had to be from 29 March 2022 until 30 June 2024. If an employee is part the way through an eligible training course or classes before29 March 2022 are not eligible.
- The training needs to be deductible to your business under ordinary rules. That is, the training is related to how the business earns its income.
- A registered training provider needs to charge your business (either directly or indirectly) for the training
- The training must be for employees of your business and delivered in-person in Australia or online.
- The training provider cannot be your business or an associate of your business.
Not all courses provided by training companies will qualify for the boost; only those charged by registered training providers within their registration.
Qualifying training providers will be registered by:
- Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (search the register – includes States and Territories)
- Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA)
- Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (search the register)
- Training Accreditation Council of Western Australia
