Published: April 27, 2022 Last Updated: April 27, 2022
Have You Heard About The Technology Investment Boost?
The Australian Government announced a "Technology Investment Boost" for the 2022-2023 budget. But what exactly do they mean by this?
The Government's Technology Investment Boost reduces the cost of going digital, supporting businesses to invest more in their digital capability.
The Technology Investment Boost is aimed at helping small business embrace the digital world by allowing them to claim an additional 20% on costs incurred. In other words, for every $100 you spend on digitalising your business, you can claim $120 when you submit your tax return for the 2022-2023 financial year.
There is an annual cap of $100 000 for this boost; after that you can only claim the normal amount (100%).
What can you claim for the Technology Investment Boost?
The ATO state that you can claim expenses for your business's digital adoption, "such as portable payment devices, cyber security systems or subscriptions to cloud based services". This is obviously a bit vague and worded as an example and not a complete list.
The budget website states a similar list of expenses, but gives an example with a dummy business called Parrot Pipes where they claim an additional 20% for the purchase of 50 laptops and a new website.
https://budget.gov.au/2022-23/content/overview/04_workforce.htm
If we go to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet website to look at the announcement, we see a broader list of what is included in digitalisation of your business. This website states, "this will encourage businesses to invest in new laptops, improve cyber security, design a new website or adopt new software services". It then goes on to give an example of a dummy business called Rock N Roll where they claim "new computer hardware, revamps its website and invests in a new digital marketing strategy".
https://digitaleconomy.pmc.gov.au/fact-sheets/sme-digitalisation
So still quite vague, but going of these examples, it's likely that you can claim your expenses for:
- Payment devices
- Cyber security systems
- New Cloud based services like accounting, CRMs, Website hosting etc
- New Website Design
- Digital Marketing
- Laptops
Now for the big Disclaimer: We are a digital marketing company and not an accounting company; so before spending anything so you can claim this boost, check with your accountant.
How to claim the Technology Investment Boost
For eligible expenditure incurred between 7:30pm AEDT 29 March 2022 until 30 June 2022:
- claim the expenditure as usual in your 2021-22 tax return, and
- claim the additional 20% bonus deduction for this period in your 2022-23 tax return.
So if you've been considering getting a New Website Design or getting a Digital Marketing strategy up and running, make sure you consider the Technology Investment Boost and talk to your Accountant.