FEDERAL BUDGET May 2021

BUSINESS TAXATION

Temporary full expensing: extended to 30 June 2023

The Government will extend the temporary full expensing measure until 30 June 2023. It was otherwise due to finish on 30 June 2022.

Other than the extended date, all other elements of temporary full expensing will remain unchanged.

Currently, temporary full expensing allows eligible businesses to deduct the full cost of eligible depreciating assets, as well as the full amount of the second element of cost. A business qualifies for temporary full expensing if it is a small business (annual aggregated turnover under $10 million) or has an annual aggregated turnover under $5 billion. Annual aggregated turnover is generally worked out on the same basis as for small businesses, except that the threshold is $5 billion instead of $10 million.

There is an alternative test, so a corporate tax entity qualifies for temporary full expensing if:

  • its total ordinary and statutory income, other than non-assessable non-exempt income, is less than $5 billion for either the 2018–2019 or the 2019–2020 income year (some additional conditions apply for entities with substituted accounting periods); and
  • the total cost of certain depreciating assets first held and used, or first installed ready for use, for a taxable purpose in the 2016–2017, 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 income years (combined) exceeds $100 million.

If temporary full expensing applies to work out the decline in value of a depreciating asset, no other method of working out that decline in value applies.

Assets must be acquired from 7:30pm AEDT on 6 October 2020 and first used or installed ready for use by 30 June 2023.