Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. Tightening restrictions as COVID-19 cases top 10,000 Restrictions have tightened back up in some states in an attempt to contain a fresh outbreak of COVID-19 in the country’s southeast, which pushed the total number of cases in the country beyond 10,000. While Australia has avoided the high…  Read more

  Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. Next phase of JobKeeper to come after September PM Scott Morrison confirmed today that there will be a “further phase” of JobKeeper payments following this September when the scheme is due to end. No more details have been announced yet, but we will keep you updated…  Read more

Last year’s introduction of Single Touch Payroll (STP) means that tax time this year will be a little different. Employers are now required to report pays, taxes and superannuation information directly to the ATO each payday through STP. Employers that do report this way will not have to give you a payment summary as they usually would at this time of year. Instead, employees will get an end-of-year income statement…  Read more

Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for this week’s update. State grants and support programs Each state and territory has announced various grants and assistance packages which you may be eligible for. You can find a roundup of these grants on the Government’s Business website. Alternatively, you can also contact us so we can discuss which options are most suitable for your business based on your eligibility and…  Read more

As small business owners look to operations after COVID-19, there are some important business questions to ask. These questions will help you determine what adaptations you want to keep, whether your business model is working, and if there are additional changes you want to make to keep your company operational through future economic downturns. It’s not always fun to do this sort of examination, but the answers to these questions…  Read more

The Queensland Government is extending the Small Business COVID-19 Adaption Grant Program. As part of Stage 2 of Queensland’s Economic Recovery Strategy – Unite and Recover for Queensland Jobs, up to $100 million is being made available to deliver a second round of grants, with half of this funding specifically earmarked for regional small businesses located outside of South East Queensland.     Round 2 will open on 1 July 2020. Many…  Read more

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – this has been an extremely difficult few months for all of us, but there is no better time to think seriously about your business. In this article, we have compiled a few tips to create value in your business. The key to building value in your business is to plan the process in a systematic way, whether you’re aiming to…  Read more

Your “war chest” is the financial reserve your business has built up so you can take advantage of an opportunity or cover unexpected costs or emergencies. Building a cash reserve when finances are tight, however, can be difficult. You need money to continue running your business but, if at all possible, you want to keep your reserve account healthy. Here are some ways to build—or preserve—a cash war chest during…  Read more

Most small business owners face a time in their career when they have to communicate in ways or about topics they aren’t comfortable with. COVID-19 has put small business owners in the position of having many conversations that are uncomfortable and stressful. Whether you’re communicating with employees about business issues during the pandemic, hoping to negotiate a rent reduction or changes to credit terms, or asking customers for help in…  Read more

The ATO has just released Alternative Tests for the JobKeeper payment which expands eligibility from the initial basic test.   This is good news for many businesses, particularly startups, those affected by last year’s droughts and those with variable revenues.   Basic Test If you satisfy the eligibility requirements for the basic test, you can ignore the alternative tests below.   The basic test is satisfied where your projected GST…  Read more

This is a recording of a webinar we have run for not only our clients but any business owners to provide them with more information about JobKeeper payments, eligibility and registration/ reporting process.   We have tried to answer all questions received over the last couple of weeks. Note, there is still more information to come from the ATO.         Make sure to connect with us on…  Read more

An employer will only be eligible to receive a JobKeeper Payment in respect of an ‘eligible employee’ (refer below) if, at the time of applying: for employers with an aggregated annual annual turnover of $1 billion or less – the employer estimates that their projected GST turnover has fallen (or is likely to fall) by 30% or more; or for employers with an aggregated annual turnover of more than $1…  Read more

When determining if the annual turnover of a business is $1 billion or less, for the purposes of working out whether the applicable decline in turnover threshold is 30% or 50%, it is the entity’s aggregated turnover that must be considered. In this context, an entity’s ‘aggregated turnover’ is the same as what is used when determining if an entity is a small business entity (‘SBE’), which includes the annual…  Read more

In determining whether the turnover of a business has fallen (or is likely to fall) by at least 30% (or 50% as the case may be), the business would generally need to show a decline in its projected GST turnover in the current period (i.e., either a month or quarter) relative to its current GST turnover in the corresponding period in the 2019 income year. The concept of ‘projected GST…  Read more

A business can only claim a JobKeeper Payment in respect of an employee who is an ‘eligible employee’. Importantly, an employer that elects to participate in the JobKeeper Scheme is required to include all eligible employees in the scheme (unless the employee advises the employer they do not wish the employer to claim the JobKeeper Payment on their behalf). An ‘eligible employee’ is an employee who satisfies the following requirements:…  Read more

The JobKeeper Scheme will ensure that eligible employees receive a gross payment (i.e., before tax) of at least $1,500 per fortnight for the duration of the scheme. Employers are able to pay eligible employees more than this amount, based on the employees’ usual pay arrangements. PRACTICAL TIP – Satisfying the ‘wage condition’ On this basis, the JobKeeper Payment scheme requires employers to pay their eligible employees a minimum of $1,500…  Read more

Amendments have also been made to the Fair Work Act 2009 to support the practical operation of the JobKeeper Scheme and to facilitate a range of flexible working arrangements designed to support the continued operation of businesses and the ongoing employment of employees. JobKeeper enabling directions Under these amendments, an employer who qualifies for JobKeeper Payments in respect of an eligible employee will be able to provide (subject to certain…  Read more

The JobKeeper Scheme also recognises that certain participants in a business (such as a sole trader) have also been affected by the economic downturn caused by the Coronavirus. Accordingly, in order to provide a benefit to such business participants, payments can also be made to an entity in respect of what is referred to as an eligible business participant (i.e., generally controlling individuals who are not employees of their business).…  Read more

Since the release of the Government’s JobKeeper Scheme, the NTAA has fielded a number of queries from our tax agent members, looking to make an application for a JobKeeper Payment on behalf of their clients and, where applicable, their own practices. A number of these commonly asked questions are addressed below. Question 1:   Do businesses have to meet the decline in turnover test on an ongoing basis? The answer is…  Read more

We would like to take this opportunity to update you on the JobKeeper Payment Scheme. Bills passed but no details are yet available Yesterday, the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Bill 2020 was introduced and passed both Houses of Parliament. Unfortunately, it did not contain the finer detail of how the JobKeeper Payment Scheme (‘the Scheme’) will operate. What it did was set up a framework including giving…  Read more

Our Facebook page is always up to date as we eagerly await any updates to support small businesses, just like you. However, it takes several days from the announcement for the details to be worked out (by the ATO/ Government) and for any new measures to be legislated. We prefer waiting until these are certain to advise our clients as lot of them are not open to interpretation. However, the…  Read more