- May 2, 2020
- Comments: 0
- Posted by: user
What help is the Commonwealth of Australia providing for businesses to ensure they survive for now and prosper later? Quite a lot actually. So much that it can be daunting to try and find out exactly what is on offer.
You can see an overview of what is available for businesses HERE.
https://www.ato.gov.au/General/COVID-19/Support-for-businesses-and-employers/
Jobkeeper
A lot has been written about this one. Basically, the employer pays their employees a wage ($1500 per fortnight – or more) and is reimbursed by the government with $1500 every fortnight – for every employee paid.You have to enrol for this and the deadline is now 31 May 2020. This is also open to sole traders.
You can enrol via the Business Portal (or MyGov if you are a sole trader). Or Wealthpath Accountants (or any tax or BAS agent) can enrol on your behalf.
Read more HERE.
https://www.ato.gov.au/General/JobKeeper-Payment/
Enrol for Jobkeeper HERE.
https://www.ato.gov.au/general/jobkeeper-payment/employers/enrol-for-the-jobkeeper-payment/
Boosting cash flow for employers
This one you don’t need to apply for. The ATO will automatically apply this if your business is eligible.
This is a temporary measure to provide some cash flow to eligible small and medium businesses. You will get a credit in your BAS (Business Activity Statement) of between $20,000 and $100,000.
You just need to lodge your activity statements up to the month or quarter of September this year. Basically, you get to keep the amounts withheld for those periods.
There is more to it and you can read about it HERE.
Increasing the instant asset write-off
Very simply, the instant asset write-off threshold is now $150,000 (up from $30,000). This is a temporary measure and there are caveats.But it means that in many cases you can instantly write off the cost of each, single, asset worth $150,000 (or less) that your business purchases (including second hand equipment).
Read about it HERE.
Accelerated depreciation
You can read about it in depth using the link below but here is an example of how this works for a small business. Let’s imagine that you buy a truck to deliver bricks that’s worth $260.000.
Normally you get a 15% deduction of the truck’s value. So you get a deduction worth $39.000.But with these new measures, you will get a deduction of 57.5%. which is a deduction of $149,500!
But visit the link because there are some caveats and conditions around this.
Read more HERE.
Early release of superannuation
Another measure I will mention, with some hesitation, is the early release of up to $10,000 of your superannuation money (and another $10,000 next financial year).But this one you should think long and hard about. Superannuation works over the long term. Taking out a little money now means losing a lot of money later.
There is a calculator on the web page below so you can work out just how much you could lose out on – as well as further information on eligibility and the process for applying.
Using the calculator (which gives an estimate only), if I’m 30 and withdraw $10,000 now – then I will miss out on $21,516 when I retire. Remember too that many people are insured by their super fund. You close that account – you lose that insurance.
To learn more click HERE.
https://moneysmart.gov.au/covid-19/accessing-your-super
Steps for applying for the early release of superannuation
- You need to have a MyGov account which you can get at my.gov.au. Do not confuse this with MyGovID – which is something completely different.
- You need to link the Australian Tax Office to MyGov. You can do this once you have logged into MyGov. Just select “link a new service” to MyGov and choose the ATO. You will be asked to answer some security questions about your self (but it’s easier to ring the ATO on 13 28 61 and just get a linking code).
- Once in the ATO, click on the superannuation button and navigate to the “apply for early release of superannuation” button. Fill out the short application form.
Get advice
Your tax agent can apply for these assistance programmes on your behalf and it’s a good idea to get advice from your tax agent so you can understand what’s best and things you should consider.
If you would like to contact Wealthpath Accountants for some free advice about any of this – then please call us on 1300 268 800