Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response) 2021

# Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response) 2021 ## What it does This bill makes two changes to tax law to help businesses and people affected by COVID-19. First, it extends tax-free treatment for certain small business grants to cover payments received in 2021-22 (previously only 2020-21 qualified). Second, it allows the tax office to share tax information with Services Australia so they can process COVID-19 Disaster Payments more efficiently. ## Why it matters Small businesses that received government support grants won't have to pay tax on that money in 2021-22, which helps them keep more cash as they recover. The second change speeds up disaster payment processing by letting government agencies share data, meaning people in hardship get their payments faster without having to submit paperwork twice. ## Key details - **Who's affected:** Small businesses that received coronavirus recovery grants, and people applying for COVID-19 Disaster Payments - **Tax-free grants:** Extended to cover both 2020-21 and 2021-22 financial years, with the tax break flowing through to later years - **Data sharing:** The ATO can now disclose tax records to Services Australia specifically for administering disaster payments—this applies whether the tax information was collected before or after the law changed - **When it starts:** The day after the bill received Royal Assent

🔒 Voting closed — this bill has been decided by parliament