Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) 2021

✦ Plain-English Summary

# Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) Bill 2021

## What it does
This bill extends COVID-19 support payments to businesses and individuals affected by lockdowns and restrictions from July 2021 to the end of 2022. It also allows the government to share tax information with other agencies to process these support payments faster, and makes sure the money people receive isn't counted as taxable income.

## Why it matters
If you or your business were hit by lockdowns during this period, this bill set up the legal framework for you to potentially access financial support. It also meant the government could coordinate across departments without red tape slowing things down, and you wouldn't face a surprise tax bill on support payments received.

## Key details
- **Payment period**: Covers financial support for anyone adversely affected by state or territory public health orders between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2022
- **Tax-free treatment**: Payments from COVID-19 support programs don't count as taxable income, and disaster payments are also tax-free
- **Data sharing**: The ATO and other government agencies can share tax information to process applications and administer support schemes more efficiently
- **Effective date**: Came into effect the day after receiving Royal Assent (no waiting period)

Official Description

Amends the: Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Act 2020 to enable the Treasurer to make rules for economic response payments to provide support to an entity where they are adversely affected by restrictions imposed by a state or territory public health order that is directed at controlling the transmission of COVID-19; Taxation Administration Act 1953 to enable tax information to be disclosed to Australian government agencies for the purposes of administering COVID-19 business support programs; Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to make payments received by eligible businesses under certain COVID-19 business support programs and Commonwealth COVID-19 disaster payments exempt from income tax; and Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus (Measures No. 2) Act 2020 to reinstate a temporary mechanism for ministers to change arrangements relating to meeting information and document requirements under Commonwealth legislation.

Committee Referrals

Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills

Full bill PDF →APH page →

Audit History

Introduced

3 Aug 2021

Last updated on APH

10 Apr 2026

Outcome date

10 Aug 2021

Last checked by Crossbench

yesterday

Full text indexed

yesterday

🗳️

No formal division recorded

This bill passed by voice vote — parliament agreed without calling a formal count. A division is only recorded when a member explicitly requests one.

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