NSW Government helping keep businesses’ doors open

The NSW Government’s decision to remove taxes on jobs will help keep businesses’ doors open and people in jobs through the coronavirus challenge, Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott said.

“Removing payroll taxes and providing relief to the most vulnerable will help protect the community as we deal with an unprecedented public health emergency.

“NSW is leading the way and I encourage other states and territories to follow their lead during the COVID-19 crisis and give all businesses, big and small, relief from payroll tax. We thank the NSW government for listening.

“This crisis will end and when it does the measures announced today will help people go back to work, keep money in their pockets and ensure essential services can continue.

“Businesses need as much room to move as possible to keep employees working.

“Deferring payroll taxes for all and waiving them for smaller ones is a good way to help keep people in jobs, to keep the economy ticking over and ensure we’re well-positioned for recovery.

“Crucially, deferring commercial rents for small employers in government-owned properties and payroll taxes will help ensure that businesses can ramp back up once the recovery begins.

“We also welcome action to defer taxes in industries which cannot safely operate.

“Businesses, big and small, are the glue that keep communities together. We cannot afford to let businesses shut up shop today, there is no guarantee they will be re-established once this crisis passes.

“Businesses across the country are stepping up, along with the rest of the community. They are restocking their shelves as quickly as possible, keeping their doors open and supporting their communities by paying their suppliers as quickly as possible.

“Our banks are continuing to lend, deferring repayments and extending their terms to give people room to move.

“Business is leading the way with the highest possible safety standards to keep the economy going. Companies are doing everything they can to keep their workers safe and to keep supply lines open, our finance system functioning, producing and manufacturing going, to keep the shelves stocked and our mining resources sector going. We are working to keep the lights on and the telecommunications system working.

“These are the essential things that will keep our country going now and give us the capacity to bounce back.”

See what businesses are doing to support their communities through this crisis here.