Snap 5-Day Victoria Lockdown Bleeding Businesses Dry
Victorian businesses are reeling from the state’s third COVID-19 lockdown in less than 12 months, with one Melbourne restaurant owner left $35,000 out of pocket.
The coffers of Toorak’s Bistro Thierry have been bled dry as the French eatery remains closed because of the state’s five-day “circuit breaker.”
Owner Thierry Cornevin says the two previous shutdowns cost him AU$225,000 and he estimates the latest one equates to another $35,000 setback.
“I had money put away for a rainy day,” the restaurateur of 20 years told AAP.
“But it funded down and we’re skint. You always have a buffer but getting kicked in the guts three times, it’s a bit much.”
Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell.
Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell has weighed in on the debate around the research & development tax incentive (RDTI), calling for a new, industry-specific scheme for businesses focused on software.
In a submission to the Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology in December, Carnell noted the RDTI “in its current form is unsuitable for software development”.
Indeed, businesses that used the incentive for software research have in the past been ordered to repay funds received under the scheme.
Either eligibility requirements for software technology need to be changed, Carnell wrote, or a new software-specific initiative should be introduced.
Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell.
Small business groups want this week’s economic update from the federal government to include a greater commitment to small business procurement, flexible loans and more economic data to help SMEs recover from the economic fallout of the pandemic.
The Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO), to be released on Thursday by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, is expected to show an improvement on the federal government’s bottom line by more than $10 billion.
Speaking to
SmartCompany, small business advocates say they are not expecting anything near the $1 billion the Treasurer has already pledged to aged care. What they do want to see, however, is the federal government procure more goods and services from small businesses, consideration of revenue contingent loans and better data.