Jobkeeper, Cash Flow Boost and other government stimulus packages to be included as income in the 2021 Ministry Contribution Calculation.

The BUV Ministry Contribution calculation for 2021 is based on the income BUV members received in 2020. The BUV is asking members to include in this calculation any amounts received from the Federal and State Governments as Jobkeeper, Cash Flow Boost and other Government stimulus packages.

Rationale

Eligibility for the government economic stimulus packages was based upon stringent criteria regarding a decline in income test. BUV member entities that received the stimulus packages declared a decline in revenue of at least 15% when compared to the previous quarter in the previous year. Alternative tests were also available to prove eligibility however the prima facie eligibility criteria for receiving the stimulus packages was a decline in income.

The BUV leadership and Union Council considered long and hard the question of the inclusion of this income in the 2021 Ministry Contribution calculation. The rationale for its inclusion is that this revenue was received as a substitute for income lost as a consequence of the Covid-19 economic conditions. BUV members disclosed their loss of income in their decline in income test which provided eligibility for the stimulus package. As such the BUV regards this income as a substitute for ordinary income the member would normally have received by way of normal activities where Covid-19 hadn’t occurred. Based on this the government support is to be included in the Ministry Contribution calculation for 2021.

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