When one thinks… “this is the year I will see change” we could never have anticipated just how true that would be.
We have heard the word “unprecedented” a lot. There isn’t really any other word suitable to explain what we just don’t know. Experts across the world are giving their best guess, which is evolving faster than we can put pen to paper.
This is our live post that we will update as Australia issues new tax policies. Policies are changing more rapidly that we can type, so please check the date of the latest update:
Last updated 13th August 2021
If you want information on medical advice head over to the Government Health Website .
With the Coronavirus situation changing hourly, the Government had to ramp up the first stimulus Package. This document will include the relevant components of round 1 but updated to include the changes made since then.
Table of Contents
The JobKeeper payment is a Reimbursement type payment and will be paid monthly in Arrears by the ATO.
The first payments to eligible employers will commence in the first week of May 2020.
If you have not already registered for Single Touch Payroll we recommend that you do so to speed up the claim process.
Employees receiving less than $1,500 per fortnight (before tax), will need to have their wages ‘topped up’ to the $1,500 amount.
The JobKeeper payment is open to eligible employers to enable them to pay their eligible employee’s salary or wages of at least $1,500 (before tax) per fortnight.
Eligible employers will be reimbursed a fixed amount of $1,500 per fortnight for each eligible employee.
It will be up to the Employer if they will pay superannuation on the additional top up of the employees wages.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
ATO has some great information on their website.
https://www.ato.gov.au/General/JobKeeper-Payment/
Employees must be nominated on the appropriate form before your register for the JobKeeper Payment. This form does not need to be lodged, but must be completed by both the Employer and Employee and kept with your employee records.
This form is not for Sole Traders. More information to come soon in relation to Self-Employed.
On the 21st July, the Government announced a new modified JobKeeper (2.0) to replace the original JobKeeper payment.
Turnover Testing: There is no change to the decline in Turnover % used on JobKeeper 1.0 (30% decline in Turnover ;50% for businesses with Turnover more than $1billion ;15% decline if registered Charity).
Eligibility: Eligibility is now reassessed for each period.
Measure Decline in ACTUAL Turnover against both the June and September 2020 Quarters, relative to comparable 2019 periods.
Measure Decline in ACTUAL Turnover against each of the June and September, & December 2020 Quarters, relative to comparable 2019 periods.
The Current $1,500 per fortnight is reducing from 27th September.
https://mailchi.mp/2ef80e19870f/jobkeeper-has-changed-new-assessment-required-january-march-payments
Real cold hard cash back for Employers who pay staff. Up to $100,000 (in total) to eligible small business employers and not-for-profit organisations. The minimum amount payable to any eligible business is $20,000.
A Small business is deemed to be a business with turnover less than $50 million.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
Payment Period | Calculation Period | Calculation Method | Benefit |
Payment 1 | 1 Jan 2020 – 30 June 2020 | 100% of PAYGW | Capped at $50,000 for the period, with a minimum of $10,000 |
Additional Payment (Payment 2) | 30 June 2020 – 30 September 2020 | Calculated as the total benefit per Payment 1, with cash paid over the BAS/IAS lodgement period between 30 June 2020 and 30 September 2020 | Capped at $50,000 for the period, with a minimum of $10,000 |
Stage 1 Payment (Period 01 January – 30 June 2020) – Now passed.
Stage 1 Payment | ||
---|---|---|
Frequency | Period | Payment Date |
Quarterly | Quarter 3 (Jan – Mar) | 28 April 2020 |
Quarter 4 (Apr- Jun) | 28 July 2020 | |
Monthly | March 2020 | 21 April 2020 |
April-20 | 21 May 2020 | |
May 2020 | 21 June 2020 | |
June-20 | 21 July 2020 |
Stage 2 Payment (Period 01 July – 30 September 2020)
Stage 2 Payment | ||
---|---|---|
Frequency | Eligible Period | Payment Date |
Quarterly | Quarter 4 (Apr – Jun) | 28 July 2020 |
Quarter 1 (Jul – Sep) | 28 October 2020 | |
Monthly | June 2020 | 21 July 2020 |
July 2020 | 21 August 2020 | |
August 2020 | 21 September 2020 | |
September 2020 | 21 October 2020 |
This payment will automatically be processed upon lodgement of your Monthly or Quarterly Business Activity Statement.
To estimate your payments yourself download this calculator. (Note we have already sent an estimate to most of our clients already)
Employers with less than 20 full-time employees who retains an employee that was employed as at 01st March 2020 may be entitled to Government funded wage subsidies equal to 50% of the apprentice or trainees wage during the nine months from 01 January 2020 to 30 September 2020.
The maximum wage subsidy will be $21,000 per eligible apprentice or trainee.
Employers can register from early April 2020.
Important:
This will processed only when you complete your year end Tax work. No immediate benefit is available.
The ATO are allowing a couple of option in relation to your Debt obligations for those directly impacted by Coronavirus.
Important
This will not be applied automatically. You need to communicate with the ATO or our office to get access to the deferral.
Speak directly to the ATO on 13 11 42 or the Emergency Hotline on 1800 806 218
Contact our office to negotiate with the ATO on your behalf.
Speak to your Bank as your Bank will issue these loans. (For comparative purposes I was quoted an interest rate of 4.5%)
Finally there is an update on the QLD Support Grant! Applications Open Monday 16th August. MOST IMPORTANT: Anyone that applies within the 3 month window (and are eligible) will get the funds. Therefore you don’t have to worry about money running out under normal Grant application time frames. You can do a self check on the website to see if you might be eligible for this grant. If you need our assistance with this grant, we recommend that you refer to the checklist before contacting us to ensure you have your documents and substantiation order so that we can help you.
https://www.business.qld.gov.au/starting-business/advice-support/grants/covid19-support-grants
IMPORTANT: This is NOT PAYGW. If you are not a small business with Payroll Withholding of More than $750,000 then this does not apply to you!
If you are a grouped employer who pays $6.5 million or less in Australian taxable wages, you may receive an email about a:
You can also apply for a deferral of payroll tax for the 2020 calendar year.
IMPORTANT: This is NOT PAYGW. If you are not a small business with Payroll Withholding of More than $750,000 then this does not apply to you!
For businesses whose total grouped Australian wages for the 2019/20 financial year is less than $10M:
All Territory businesses will be able to access a $10,000 grant, followed by an additional $10,000 grant if they contribute $10,000 of their own.
This state has not been reviewed due to us not servicing this area. Please check with your local state government website for any State Government Incentives.
This state has not been reviewed due to us not servicing this area. Please check with your local state government website for any State Government Incentives.
This state has not been reviewed due to us not servicing this area. Please check with your local state government website for any State Government Incentives.
Check with your Bank for Bank specific support- Click the links below
Currently the New start Allowance or Job seeker Allowance is $550 per fortnight. The Government is increasing this allowance by an additional $550 supplement per fortnight temporarily. To make this more easily accessible to people that have recently lost their jobs the government has:
This payment is available to permanent employees (stood down), Sole Traders, self-employed, casual and contract workers.
This supplement will also apply to individuals already receiving allowances including Job seeker, New start and Parenting Payment (Partnered & Single).
This payment will be available from 27th April 2020.
IMPORTANT
New information has come from Centrelink as to eligibility. You may be entitled to the Coronavirus Supplement separately (and not entitled to the Job Seeker allowance). This will mean you only receive $550 per fortnight. The current threshold for this is earning. You must be earning Less than $1,075 per fortnight.
You will be entitled to the Job Seeker allowance as well, so long as your partner does not earn more than $1,850 per fortnight ($48,100 per year).
There are no Assets test on these allowance at this time.
The Prime Minister also announced changes to the income test for people on the Job Seeker payment, meaning their partners could earn almost $80,000 a year before they were ineligible for the payment.
Human Services Website – Job seekers
Eligible recipients will receive a payment of $750 automatically from 31st March 2020.
To be eligible for the first payment you must be a social security, veteran or other income support recipient.
To be eligible for the second payment, you must have qualified for the first payment and not be receiving the Coronavirus supplement. The second payment will be paid automatically from 13th July 2020.
The Government will introduce a temporary early access to Superannuation for affected individuals. This is applicable only if one or more of the below requirements are satisfied
This amount is a tax free payment with a maximum amount of $10,000 for the 2019-2020 Financial Year. A further $10,000 is available from 01 July 2020.
This will be available for application from mid April 2020
Applications should be made directly through your MyGov Account,
More information can be obtained direct from the ATO Website: www.ato.gov.au
Temporary reduction to the minimum pension payment required for retirees to take from their superannuation fund. This will allow them to keep funds inside their superannuation environment as it may be unfavourable to cash in assets to fund pension payments.
The Reduction applies to the 2019/2020 and the 2020/2021 Financial Years.
Sources
The Government have announced a 3rd Stimulus to come. We are still awaiting on official details, however the latest news report has indicated that the latest package amounts to $130 billion in the form of Wage Subsidies
Businesses (Employers) will receive a fortnightly wage subsidy up to $1,500 per employee as part of a Federal Government bid to prevent millions of people from losing their jobs to the Coronavirus pandemic.
02 December 2021
12 February 2021
12 February 2021
08 December 2020
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