Undoubtedly, the entire world is battling against the pandemic caused by the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 these days. Every nation, in all their capacities are trying to control the spread and simultaneously take care of the basic requirements of all the affected sections of the society. As the economies are hampered and countries are facing partial or entire lockdown, Canada, Australia and UK are also making the best of their efforts. Below is the tabular representation to have a better understanding of the steps taken by these countries.
| Category | Canada | Australia | UK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individuals and Households | CAD 300 per child through the Canada Child Benefit (CCB)
Around CAD 400 for single individuals and around CAD 600 for couples Extended timeline to submit the Income Tax Returns and flexibility of mortgage |
Around 6 million employees in Australia will be granted AUD 1500 (fortnightly payment) for maximum of six month through their employers
Income support of AUD 550 (fortnightly payment) Govt. reduced both upper and lower social security deeming rates by 2.25% and 0.25% respectively |
Commercial tenants unable to pay rent due to COVID-19 are protected from eviction.
On a case-by-case basis, businesses and self-employed persons facing financial distress and having outstanding tax liabilities may qualify for tax support. |
| For those affected by COVID – 19 | Taxable benefit of CAD 2000 to those who are sick, quarantined, or providing care for those who are affected
waiving off the requirement of medical certificate for Access to Employment Insurance sickness benefits |
Up to AUD 10,000 of superannuation in 2019-20 and AUD 10,000 in 2020-21 for those affected by COVID-19.
AUD 1 billion has been distributed to the Coronavirus affected regions for the speedy recovery |
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) can reclaim up to two weeks of Statutory Sick Pay for employees who take a leave of absence due to COVID-19. |
| Airline Industry | Waived off the ground lease rents for the 21 airport authorities from Mar 2020 to Dec 2020 | AUD 715 million is given to the airline industry as a relief measure | Emergency business measures are available for airlines |
| Employees and Businesses | Provision of CAD 2000 will also help those people who are unable to work due to absence of sufficient work.
Employees who lost their jobs due to the adversity and qualify for the employment benefits, they can apply for the benefit now. Govt. introduced special measures that extend the duration from 38 weeks to 76 weeks under Work-Sharing program for those businesses affected Govt. will provide 75% wage subsidy for qualifying businesses for up to 3 months to avoid layoff and keep the employees to the payroll. |
Govt. will grant from AUD 20,000 to AUD 100,000 to the eligible small and medium-sized businesses.
Temporary relief for financially distressed businesses The instant asset write-off threshold will be increased from AUD 30,000 to AUD 150,000 to the businesses with annual turnover of less than AUD 500 million until 30th Jun 2020. Businesses with turnover of less than AUD 500 million, will be able to deduct 50% of the cost of an asset on installation Wage subsidy of 50% of the apprentice’s or trainee’s wage for the next 9 months |
Employers can claim a grant to cover 80% of a furloughed employee’s usual monthly wages (up to £2,500 per month)
For the 2020-21 tax year, a business rates holiday has been announced for leisure, retail and hospitality businesses in England. VAT payments for businesses will be deferred for three months Small businesses that are receiving a rural rate relief or small business rate relief will be provided a grant of £10,000. |
| Credit Flow Solutions for stabilized economy | Govt. will allocate an additional CAD 5 billion to Farm Credit Canada to channelize the lending capacity to producers, agribusinesses, and food processors.
Govt. will purchase up to CAD 150 billion of insured mortgage pools to provide stable funding to mortgage lenders and banks for a long-term Bank has reduced interest rates, providing support for key financial markets and liquidity support for financial institutions Lowered Domestic Stability Buffer by 1.25% that will allow the banks to roll out CAD 300 billion of additional lending to the Canadian Economy |
Govt. will provide 50% to SME lenders which will accumulate up to AUD 40 billion to support new unsecured loans to SMEs
Exemption from lending obligations for lenders, which will help the small businesses to avail the credit immediately Access to minimum AUD 90 billion in funds at a fixed interest of 0.25%. This will reduce funding costs for banks and help reduce interest rates for borrowers AUD 15 billion to AOFM for the investment in the finance markets of smaller lenders, including non-ADIs and smaller ADIs |
The British Business Bank will offer loans of maximum £5 million to SMEs for up to six years, delivered through commercial banks.
The government will provide Business Interruption Payment for the first 12 months – to cover interest payments and lender-levied fees – and provide a guarantee of 80% on every loan. There will be a government guarantee of 80% on loans of up to £25 million taken by large businesses. The Bank of England will also help support liquidity in larger firms by purchasing short-term debts from these businesses. |
With these numerous measures taken up these countries, it is clearly evident that the nations are pushing their limits to support their people. Each and every part of the society has been taken care of and credit flow has been taken really seriously so that people have access to money in these desperate times and economies continue to survive.
These are the reasons why people chose to migrate to Canada, Australia or UK because as these nations are citizen-centric and have the capabilities to deal with unfortunate situations ensuring that people are not deprived of basic necessities.
We at Abhinav Immigration Services are having 25 years of experience of helping people in successful migration. We have immense expertise and thousands of clients who have migrated to these countries through us. If you want to know more on the countries and for immigration related queries, feel free to get in touch with us at +91 8595338595 or drop a mail on [email protected]
