Adjustments made to program as a result of industry feedback.
The Council of Australian Tour Operators has just advised its members of details of the second round of the Government’s COVID-19 Consumer Travel Support Program, following yesterday’s announcement by Tourism Minister Dan Tehan that a further $130 million had been allocated to the scheme.
While consultations are ongoing to finalise the conditions of the program’s extension, key items to note are as follows:
– Payments under Round Two of the program will automatically apply to businesses which were successful under Round One who reported their GST turnover on the G1 line of their Business Activity Statement.
– However no additional payments under Round Two will be made to those who were paid based on their Total Transaction Value in Round One.
– The number of “turnover tiers” used to calculate payments for Round Two will be reduced from 41 to seven, with eligible businesses to receive between $5,000 and $100,000 per eligible application.
– Businesses with G1 sales over $500,000 and less than $20 million seeking a Round Two payment will be subject to an audit, with the aim of ensuring that only those who were paid on the basis of GST Turnover in Round One are eligible for Round Two.
Further information and updates are expected to be provided via the program page on the Austrade website at https://www.austrade.gov.au/Australian/Tourism/Tourism-and-business/Grants/covid-19-consumer-travel-support-program over the weekend, including application timelines for Round Two of the scheme.
Any industry businesses seeking to make appeals under Round One citing exceptional circumstances are being urged to lodge an application via the Services Australia website before the Round One cutoff date of midnight AEDT tomorrow, Saturday 13 March 2021 – see https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/organisations/business/services/centrelink/covid-19-consumer-travel-support-program.
Existing pending exceptional circumstances reviews will be finalised as soon as possible so that applicants are able to determine their eligiblity for Round Two.
More details in Travel Daily as they come to hand.