With the Treasurer set to deliver the 2025–2026 Budget next week, small-business owners are watching closely for tax incentives, financial support, and other measures to ease the cost of doing business.
One expected announcement is an extension of the $20,000 instant asset write-off for another 12 months. In previous years, the popular tax write-off has been announced in the budget – and it’s likely to happen again this year.
Beyond tax relief, small-business owners can expect new measures to ease the cost-of-living. Treasurer Jim Chalmers hinted at more cost-of-living help in the budget in a recent Queensland Media Club address, but did not give specifics.
“What I can say is that there will be more cost‑of‑living help in the budget,” he said. “It will be meaningful and substantial and it will be responsible, it will be affordable. We can’t do everything that we would like to do because of the fiscal and other constraints that we have.”
Last year’s Budget included the Energy Bill Relief Fund, which delivered energy rebates of $325 to many small businesses. However, Chalmers was tight-lipped about whether the Government will continue the program into the next financial year.
“I’m obviously not going to commit to another round of energy bill rebates here with you in Brisbane a week out from the Budget,” he told a journalist at the Queensland Media club address.
Energy affordability is on many business owners’ minds, with the Australian Energy Regulator recently approving a draft to increase the Default Market Offer for electricity prices. The move could see prices rise by as much as 8.8 per cent for businesses in New South Sales, South Australia, and southeast Queensland. With operating costs already on the rise, small-business owners will be watching the Budget closely to see whether relief measures go far enough to ease financial pressures.
