Small Business Skills and Training Boost

Small businesses may be eligible for an additional 20% tax deduction.

The Australian Government has announced a new business boost to upskill employees and benefit employers by offering an additional 20% tax deduction for external training courses.

The boost applies to eligible expenditure incurred from 29 March 2022 until 30 June 2024 - making now the perfect time to do any additional training for your team before the end of financial year.

Who is eligible?

Businesses with an aggregated annual turnover of less than $50 million are eligible. This boost is for the training and upskilling of employees, meaning non-employee business owners such as sole traders, partners in a partnership or independent contractors are ineligible.

What can I claim?

Training must be provided by a registered external provider that is not you (the business owner) or an associate of yours. The training must be to employees of your business, either in-person in Australia or online. You can check for registered providers here and here.

The training must already be deductible for your business under taxation law. Additionally, any training expenses can include incidental costs related to the provision of training such as the cost of books or equipment needed for the course.

When can you claim the boost?

Under the delayed claim rule, you may have to claim a deduction for the eligible expense in your tax return for the income year in which you incurred it and claim the 20% bonus amount in a later year’s tax return. This depends on when your income year runs and what time of the year you incurred the expense (our team will be able to assist you on when best to claim).

If you’re a small business owner and want to discuss how your business can implement this before 30 June 2024, reach out to our team today.

For more information, please visit the ATO website here.