The Australian government is giving small businesses a boost with financial help in the form of payment incentives, tax credits or grants. To qualify for a grant, your business should be a start-up or a small and medium-sized business. The annual turnover of your business may come into play if you want to apply for some of the grants.
We will explore some of the business grants available to your business below.
Australian Government Entrepreneurs Program
To encourage productivity, competitiveness, and commercialization of ideas, the Federal Government is providing this grant to entrepreneurs. To accelerate commercialisation, the grant will give funding of up to $1 million for any process that goes into bringing a new product, service, and process into the market.
Business advisors will be at hand to mentor and help in implementing strategies. They will also help create a business evaluation action plan that will recommend how to grow and improve.
Your business must have an annual turnover of between $1.5 and $100 million. The company must also be in a particular growth sector like manufacturing, mining technology, medical-technology agribusiness, food, among others.
Start-up and existing incubators will receive up to $500,000 to help them access international markets.
State Government Grants – Victoria
These grants are available for people who live in the Victoria area and are available for anyone in food innovation, Social Enterprise, Defence and Aerospace, exports to Asia and advanced manufacturing.
Anyone who successfully applies will get vouchers that they can use in innovation, market engagement, and business capability.
Winning a state government grant can provide prestige and credibility, with the appearance of a small business critical to help it get off the ground. In addition, the most obvious benefit of this grant is that, unlike a loan, grants do not need to be repaid. This can provide you with a unique advantage over your competition.
According to the short-term finance experts at Maxiron Capital, “The approval of state funding can provide the same boost to a small business or start-up as a small business loan. With no repayments to make there is the opportunity to use short-term financing to scale at speed and drive home the advantage provided through state grants.”
State Government Grants – Queensland
This $50,000 Grant is available for businesses that need to purchase specialised Services or equipment. The grant aims to accelerate the growth of businesses that have high growth and employment aspirations.
According to the Queensland Government, Business Queensland, “Business innovation often requires an up-front investment of resources to develop new ideas, with a view to future profits. For businesses that are unable to fund their own ideas, a range of grants and financial assistance is available to support innovation.”
In order to find the specific grant, you can go over the Grant Directories.
State Government Grants – New South Wales
The $2000 Grant is for businesses that hire new employees without paying payroll tax. The company will get the grant for every new employee they hire.
There are typically two types of grants for employee hiring, both of which will require you to understand your taxation and legal rights. A Small Business Grant is aimed at small businesses looking to increase their headcount, which means businesses that are paying less than $750,000 a year in wages and therefore falling under the NSW Payroll Tax threshold.
With the ability of grants to transform your business, the legal experts at Southern Coast Lawyers indicate that “you should always be aware of relevant state legislation pertaining to your business. Knowing your legal responsibilities and ensuring you are working within these parameters can ensure you are eligible for business grants when they become available to you.”
Then there is the other typical grant that is the Jobs Action Plan. This is for larger businesses, so it is important to identify which type of grant suits your needs the most.
CSIRO Kick Start Grant
Any Australian SME or start-up can qualify for the $50000 matched funding Grant.
The fund will aid in research activities done together with CSIRO to grow the business. Your company must have an Australian company number (ACN) have an annual turnover of below $1.5 million, and GST registered.
The research will cover areas such as product development, ideas with commercial potential, and testing of products or materials. It should not be less than a one-year research project.
CSIRO will provide between $10000 and $50000 in matched funding for your research investment.
Certain Inputs to Manufacture (CIM) programme
CIM is a concession which will allow manufacturers in Australia to import specific raw material like chemicals, paper goods, plastic and metal for food packaging, duty-free.
You will only get the grant if you can prove that you cannot get the same quality of the product in the domestic market.
R & D Tax Incentive
The R&D tax incentive will give a company a 43.5% refundable tax, for any costs that arise due to research and development activities.
To be considered for the grant, the company has to be incorporated, and have R&D reductions or costs of $20,000 at the minimum. You must also have an annual turnover of no less than$20 million.
Australian Government Restart Incentive
The Australian Government Restart Incentive is a grant that will go to any business that employs and retains mature employees of age 50 and above.
The company must have a valid ABN, is a member of an unemployment service provider, and should offer the employee a minimum of 20 hours per week. Your company will receive a payment of $10,000 over six months.
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