NFF pushes Federal Government for ‘grace period’ for machinery buyers accessing the instant asset write off

The National Farmers’ Federation is ramping up its calls to the Federal Government to extend the Instant Asset Write Off to assist farmers who have been unfairly caught out by the scheme’s cut off date of June 30. The IAWO and temporary full expensing arrangements allowed farmers and small businesses to immediately depreciate the full cost of new assets within a single financial year, if farmers received and installed their new assets before the deadline. NFF president Fiona Simson said COVID-induced disruptions in global supply chains meant many farmers were still waiting for machinery ordered well before the deadline. “There are farmers who ordered tractors and machinery in 2020 that still haven’t arrived,” Ms Simson said. “We now have situations where farmers can see their tractor through the port fence but customs processing delays are stopping them from access the IAWO. “In 2020, during the depths of the pandemic, Australian farmers made good faith investments in line with government policy, now, due to factors outside their control, farmers are set to lose out.” The NFF is asking the Government to provide a grace period for farmers who have invested in but not yet received their new assets by June 30. In the recent Federal Budget, the NFF acknowledged the small steps from the Federal Government with the Small Business Energy Incentive and the revised IAWO being extended a year but going from being an uncapped scheme to only applying for assets up to $20,000. “This is cold comfort for Australian farmers who have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in new tractors, machinery and assets they believed would arrive before the deadline,” Ms Simson said. “In most cases, new assets won’t make the cut. “Surely the Federal Government doesn’t have to be a Grinch on what is a reasonable solution that will go a long way to boosting farm profitability and productivity.” Tractor and Machinery Association of Australia executive director Gary Northover said the organisation supported NFF’s position. “We certainly support this position and have previously written to the Treasurer requesting consideration of this,” Mr Northover said. Farm Machinery and Industry Association executive officer John Henchy said the WA group was 100 per cent behind the NFF on this call to Government. “COVID induced component shortages, shipping bottlenecks and problems at our ports with bio-security issues have had a definite impact on lead times, which have negatively impacted our members and their customers,” Mr Henchy said. “We also support the TMA, of which we are members, who have written to the government asking that machines ordered during the past 12 months, but not delivered owing to the above issues, still be eligible for the instant asset write-off program.”