Category: News

Evidencing Your Decline in Turnover for JobKeeper

Posted on May 25, 2020 by Accounts - Blog, Featured Articles, General, News, Small Business

To qualify, an employer must demonstrate that its GST turnover has fallen by the following percentage compared to the same comparison period in 2019:

30% fall in turnover (for an aggregated turnover of $1 billion or less)
50% fall in turnover (for an aggregated turnover of more than $1 billion), or
15% fall in turnover (for ACNC-registered charities other than universities and schools).

You will need to keep evidence and sufficient records to demonstrate how you calculated your projected GST turnover during the 2020 turnover test period, and your basis for estimating that it would fall by the required percentage.

Your projected GST turnover during the 2020 turnover test period is the sum of the value (GST exclusive sale price) of all the sales you have made, or are likely to make during that period.

For the purpose of determining sales likely to be made, the ATO will accept a calculation based on a genuine business plan, accounting budget or some other reasonable estimate based on the evidence about the projected facts and circumstances for the remainder of the turnover test period.

Relevant evidence that would support a prediction of sales likely to be made may include:

a decline in sales during the turnover test period or since 1 March 2020 as a result of government COVID-19 restrictions
customers cancelling or modifying existing contracts for sales on or from 1 March 2020
being required to close or pausing the business due to government COVID-19 restrictions
delays in being able to get access to trading stock sourced from overseas on or from 1 March 2020
evidence of your business’s reliance on tourism
any consequential effect on the price of what you supply, for example, the effect on the market value of new property being sold by a developer
information known to the business, whether or not publicly available
economic forecasts undertaken by a reputable organisation that are relevant to your type of business
the likely timing of government COVID-19 restrictions being lifted for your type of business based on government announcements.

According to the ATO, when people make a good-faith estimate to comply and a good-faith decision that they’re eligible, the Commissioner will be very understanding and sympathetic to their position, particularly where they have passed the benefit of the JobKeeper payment to their employees What the legislation, and the ATO are asking of businesses is to make a “good faith effort”. When the ATO considers a good faith effort has been made, even if it’s slightly wrong (i.e. less than the required downturn percentage), the ATO will not seek repayments of JobKeeper or apply penalties.

More Coronavirus Relief for Business

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Accounts - Blog, Business Tax, Featured Articles, General, News, News, Small Business

Over the weekend (29/03/2020), more relief was announced for business including:

Deferral of Loan Repayments

A little over a week ago, the Australian Banking Association announced a six-month deferral of all loan repayments for small businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

On the weekend, this relief has now been extended to all businesses that have loans of up to $10 million. That accounts for just on 98% of all Australian businesses that have loans with Australian banks

Commercial Tenancies

National Cabinet agreed to a moratorium on evictions over the next six months for commercial and residential tenancies in financial distress who are unable to meet their commitments due to the impact of coronavirus.

Commercial tenants, landlords and financial institutions are encouraged to sit down together to find a way through to ensure that businesses can survive and be there on the other side. As part of this, National Cabinet agreed to a common set of principles, endorsed by Treasurers, to underpin and govern intervention to aid commercial tenancies as follows:

a short term, temporary moratorium on eviction for non-payment of rent to be applied across commercial tenancies impacted by severe rental distress due to coronavirus;
tenants and landlords are encouraged to agree on rent relief or temporary amendments to the lease;
the reduction or waiver of rental payment for a defined period for impacted tenants;
the ability for tenants to terminate leases and/or seek mediation or conciliation on the grounds of financial distress;
commercial property owners should ensure that any benefits received in respect of their properties should also benefit their tenants in proportion to the economic impact caused by coronavirus;
landlords and tenants not significantly affected by coronavirus are expected to honour their lease and rental agreements; and
cost-sharing or deferral of losses between landlords and tenants, with Commonwealth, state and territory governments, local government and financial institutions to consider mechanisms to provide assistance.

COVID-19 Additional Help for Business

Posted on March 25, 2020 by Accounts - Blog, Business Tax, Featured Articles, General, News, News, Small Business

As the anticipated economic impact from the Coronavirus worsens, the Government on the weekend beefed up its assistance package that was originally announced last week as follows:

PAYG cash credits to SME employers and charities up to $100k (minimum $20k)

The Government announced on the weekend that it will boost last week’s cash credit to employers. It will now provide a tax-free credit up to $100,000 for eligible small and medium sized entities (SMEs), and not-for-profits (including charities) that employ people, with a minimum credit of $20,000. These tax-free credits seek to help businesses’ and NFPs’ cash flow so they can keep operating, pay their rent, electricity and other bills and retain staff.

Under the enhanced scheme from last week’s first stimulus package, employers will receive a credit equal to 100% PAYG withholding from employee salary and wages (up from 50%), with the maximum credit being increased from $25,000 to $50,000. In addition, the minimum credit will be increased from $2,000 to $10,000.

SMEs with aggregated annual turnover under $50m and that employ workers are eligible. NFPs entities, including charities, with aggregated annual turnover under $50m and that employ workers will now also be eligible. This will support employment at a time where NFPs are facing increasing demand for services.

The cash flow credit for employers will be available from 28 April 2020.

For example, if an employer lodging their quarterly March Activity Statement was ordinarily due to withhold $40,000 in PAYG withholding from their employee’s salaries in that quarterly period, then they would just keep this money themselves (being 100% of the withholding that was due) rather than sending it to the ATO and it would be tax-free. The rest of that Activity Statement would be dealt with normally, for instance it may be the case that GST may be owed for that quarter.

We can see from this example, that the benefit is by way of the withholding that would normally be owed to the ATO, and that withholding amount is tax-free to the employer. Therefore, it is not a cash payment from the ATO as such, but rather retaining the withholding which would otherwise be payable.

An additional credit is also being made from 28 July 2020. Eligible entities will receive an additional credit equal to the total of all of the Boosting Cash Flow for Employers payments received. The credits are tax-free, there will be no new forms and payments will flow automatically from the ATO.

Temporary Relief for Financially Distressed Businesses

The Government is temporarily increasing the threshold to $20,000 (up from $2,000) at which creditors can issue a statutory demand on a company and the time companies have to respond to statutory demands they receive (21 days to 6 months). Temporary relief will also be provided for directors from any personal liability for trading while insolvent. The Corporations Act 2001 will also be amended to provide temporary and targeted relief for companies to deal with unforeseen events that arise as a result of the Coronavirus.

Coronavirus stimulus package worth $84 billion passed without objection by Parliament

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Accounts - Blog, Featured Articles, General, News, News, Small Business

23/03/20 The Federal Parliament has rushed through $84 billion in financial support for workers, students and businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak, before wrapping up for a five-month-long break.

A bare minimum of MPs and Senators came to Canberra for a single day to vote on legislation for the Government’s two rounds of stimulus measures.

The bills were passed late Monday night without objection in both the House of Representatives and the Senate after some amendments were made.

“The measures that have been passed by the Parliament today represent the most significant support for the Australian economy and community since the war,” said Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

The legislation supports both the first coronavirus economic stimulus package, worth $17.6 billion, and the $66 billion in direct financial support announced in the second package on the weekend.

It also includes a raft of other measures to support the economy more broadly, as well as giving the Government flexibility to respond to changing circumstances without needing further legislation.

Under pressure from Labor and the Greens, the Coalition amended its own legislation to give the social services minister the power to make changes to the stimulus payments, including rates, means testing, eligibility and residency requirements.

The Government will immediately use those powers to extend the $550 coronavirus supplement to students receiving Youth Allowance, Austudy and Abstudy payments.

Other than the income test, “there are really very few other requirements” students will have to meet to get support, said Social Services Minister Anne Ruston.

The Government estimates up to 236,000 students could benefit from the change.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-23/coronavirus-economic-stimulus-passes-parliament/12080388

Key Points
Changes to the Government’s stimulus package include:

Extending the $550 per fornight coronavirus payment to students
New powers to increase or expand payments as needed, including for pensioners, those on disability support payments and carers, jobseekers and people who fall through the cracks
Making it easier for people who lose their job to get support by relaxing the test on their partner’s income

PRESS CONFERENCE – AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENT HOUSE, ACT – 22/03/2020

Posted on March 23, 2020 by Accounts - Blog, Featured Articles, General, News, Small Business, Superannuation

THE HON. JOSH FRYDENBERG MP, TREASURER: Since the government announced its first stimulus package just over a week ago, the global and the domestic economic environment has deteriorated. We now expect the economic shock to be deeper, wider, and longer. Every arm of government and industry is working to keep Australians in jobs and businesses in business, and to build a bridge to recovery on the other side.

Today, the government is announcing a second package, $66 billion dollars to cushion the blow to households as a result of the coronavirus and to support businesses, and we are enhancing in an unprecedented way Australia’s safety net. This package is consistent with our principles. The initiatives are targeted, are temporary, are proportionate, are scalable, and are using our existing systems. Today, this package, together with the other initiatives that have been announced, sees the government’s support for our Australian economy, announced over the last 10 days, at $189 billion dollars or as the Prime Minister said, around 10 per cent of GDP.

Today’s package has three parts involving 10 separate initiatives. The package will support households, including casuals, sole traders, retirees and those on income support. It will provide assistance for businesses to keep people in a job and it will provide regulatory protection and financial support for businesses to stay in business.

Today, the government is announcing:-

The doubling of the Jobseeker Allowance, formerly known as Newstart, through the introduction of a temporary coronavirus supplement.
The government will also waive the assets test and waiting periods for the Jobseeker Allowance, allowing more Australians to more quickly access the support that they need. The coronavirus supplement will provide an additional $550 a fortnight on top of the existing jobseeker or Newstart payment and will be available to sole traders and casual workers who meet the income test. This means anyone eligible for the maximum jobseeker payment will now receive more than $1,100 a fortnight, effectively doubling the jobseeker allowance.

In the first package on the 12th of March, we announced a $750 payment for Australians on income support. Today, we announce that from July 13, a further $750 payment to those on income support that are not eligible for the coronavirus supplement. This includes those receiving the age pension, the carer’s allowance, family tax benefits and the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card. In total, 5.2 million Australians. We are also reducing the deeming rates by a further quarter of a per cent to reflect the recent Reserve Bank interest rate cut. Over 900,000 thousand social security recipients on income tested support will now benefit.

Our economic response will allow those Australians who are in financial stress as a result of the Corona virus to access more of their own money in superannuation. From April, those affected will gain access to their superannuation capped at $10,000 this financial year, and a further $10,000 next financial year. These withdrawals will be tax free. I repeat, these withdrawals will be tax free and available to those who are eligible for the coronavirus supplement, as well as sole traders who have seen their hours worked or income fall by 20 per cent or more as a result of the coronavirus. So if you’re a sole trader or you’re a casual and you’ve seen your income or your hours worked fall by 20 per cent or more as a result of the coronavirus, you will be able to get early access to your superannuation. Applications will be made online through a simple declaration to the tax office. This initiative builds on existing provisions that allow early access to super in the event of hardship or on compassionate grounds, and it is estimated to put up to $27 billion dollars of superannuation back into the pockets of hardworking Australians. This comprises less than 1 per cent of the 3 trillion dollars in superannuation today. APRA, the prudential regulator, has advised the government that they do not expect this initiative to have a significant impact on the industry overall.

The government is also giving retirees more flexibility over their superannuation. Currently, retirees are required to draw down a minimum of 4 percent a year from their superannuation, a number that increases with their age. The government is halving this requirement to 2 per cent for this year and for next year, to give retirees more discretion over the management of their assets.

The second part of our package sees a massive scaling up of support for small and medium sized businesses across the country. We are increasing cash payments to SME’s to boost their cash flow and to keep their workers employed. All employing businesses will receive at least $20,000. All employing small businesses will receive at least $20,000 and some of the larger SME’s will receive up to one hundred thousand dollars. And we are extending this measure to around 30,000 not for profit organisations, which have an annual turnover of less than $50 million dollars. This will be a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of employers like the local hairdresser, the local cafe, the local mechanic whose income has been significantly reduced over this difficult period. This is the single largest measure in this second package, and together with the first initiative in the first package for small businesses is worth $31.9 billion dollars in total. This payment will be automatically paid through the tax system largely over the next six months with the first payment after 28 of April. No new forms will be required from Australian small and medium sized businesses.

Over the course of the last week, $105 billion dollars is being injected into the financial system by the government and the Reserve Bank of Australia, the purpose of which was to lower the cost and increase the availability of credit, particularly to smaller, medium sized businesses. Today, the government is going one step further and is guaranteeing in a 50/50 partnership with the banks and other lenders, more lending to Australia’s small and medium sized businesses. This $40 billion scheme, which will start in early April, will provide loans of up to $250,000 for up to 3 years for a business with a turnover of less than $50 million dollars. No repayments will be required for the first six months. These will be unsecured loans and they will help build a bridge for small and medium sized businesses to the other side of the coronavirus, and I urge small businesses to go and talk to their bank about these new opportunities that are available. These funds will provide hope and confidence to a vitally important sector and together with the red tape reduction for SME lending announced on Friday, more credit will be coming their way.

The third part of our package will provide a regulatory shield for what are otherwise profitable and viable businesses that find themselves under severe financial pressure as a result of the coronavirus. Now is the time for more flexibility in insolvency and bankruptcy laws to keep these businesses alive and to trade through this period. The government is proposing to increase the threshold at which a creditor can take action to initiate insolvency or bankruptcy from as low as $2,000 today to $20,000 and giving companies and individuals 6 months instead of 21 days to respond. We will also provide relief from directors, from personal liability, where the company is trading while insolvent. This relief will be provided over the next 6 months and will be vital to helping companies get through this period. As a result of the health related restrictions being put in place to reduce the impact of the coronavirus, it will not be possible for many companies to comply with their obligations under the Corporations Act, for example, holding general meetings in person. A temporary 6 month power will be provided to me as the Treasurer to deal with these situations as they arise

These extraordinary times require extraordinary measures and we face a global challenge like we have never faced before. But by working together, we will get to the other side and we will bounce back stronger. Today’s announcement will provide hope and support for millions of Australians at a time when they need it most. We know that there is more to do and we will continue to do what it takes.

https://www.pm.gov.au/media/press-conference-australian-parliament-house-act-22march

COVID-19 Banking Relief Package

Posted on March 23, 2020 by Accounts - Blog, Featured Articles, News, Small Business

In response to the expected impact of the coronavirus (COVID – 19), the Government last week announced a range of measures that it and the banks are putting in place to support businesses over the coming months. For further details, and how to apply, you should contact your lender:

Loan Repayment Relief

Banks will defer loan repayments for six months for small businesses who need assistance because of the impacts of the coronavirus.

SME Loan Guarantee Scheme

The Government will establish the Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme which will support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to get access to working capital to help them get them through the impact of the coronavirus. Under the Scheme, the Government will guarantee 50 per cent of new loans issued by eligible lenders to SMEs. The Government’s support will enhance lenders’ willingness and ability to provide credit to SMEs with the Scheme able to support $40 billion of lending to SMEs.

Low Cost Loans from Smaller Lenders

$15 billion in stimulus investment to enable small banks and non-banks to supply low-cost loans to customers and small business. This will enable customers of smaller lenders to continue to access affordable credit.

Economic Stimulus Package Released by the PM

Posted on March 12, 2020 by Accounts - Blog, Business Tax, Featured Articles, News, Small Business

The Morrison Government has today announced a $17.6 billion economic plan to keep Australians in jobs, keep businesses in business and support households and the Australian economy as the world deals with the significant challenges posed by the spread of the coronavirus.

Our targeted stimulus package is focused on keeping Australians in jobs and helping small and medium sized businesses to stay in business.

The package has four parts:

Supporting business investment
Providing cash flow assistance to help small and medium sized business to stay in business and keep their employees in jobs
Targeted support for the most severely affected sectors, regions and communities;
Household stimulus payments that will benefit the wider economy

The measures are all temporary, targeted and proportionate to the challenge we face. Our actions will ensure we respond to the immediate challenges we face and help Australia bounce back stronger on the other side, without undermining the structural integrity of the Budget.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said as part of the plan up to 6.5 million individuals and 3.5 million businesses would be directly supported by the package.

“Just as we have acted decisively to protect the health of the Australian people, based on the best evidence and medical advice, our support package responds to the economic challenges presented by this pandemic in a timely, proportionate and targeted way,” the Prime Minister said.

“Our plan will back Australian households with a stimulus payment to boost growth, bolster domestic confidence and consumption, reduce cash flow pressures for businesses and support new investments to lift productivity.

“Australia is not immune to the global coronavirus challenge but we have already taken steps to prepare for this looming international economic crisis.

“We’ve balanced the budget and managed our economy so we can now use this to protect the health, wellbeing and livelihoods of Australians.

“Our targeted stimulus package will focus on keeping Australians in jobs and keeping businesses in business so we can bounce back strongly.

“The economy needs temporary help right now to bounce back better so the livelihoods of all Australians are protected.”

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Australia is approaching the economic challenge from the Coronavirus from a position of strength with IMF and the OECD both forecasting Australia to grow faster than comparable countries including the UK, Canada, Japan, Germany and France.

“Our plan keeps businesses operating, supports jobs and provides a stimulus to households,” the Treasurer said.

“The Government has worked hard over the last six and a half years to return the budget to balance so we have the flexibility to respond to the serious economic challenges posed by the Coronavirus.”

“Given Australia’s strong economic and fiscal position, the international credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s indicated that temporary stimulus would be “unlikely to strain Australia’s creditworthiness.

“In our response, we have been very careful not to repeat the mistakes of previous stimulus programs and not undermine the structural integrity of the budget.

“Today’s announcement will provide the support businesses need to stay in business and keep Australians in a job.

“By acting decisively this package will put Australia in the strongest possible position to deal with the economic challenges we face and to make sure our economy bounces back even stronger.”

Delivering support for business investment

$700 million to increase the instant asset write off threshold from $30,000 to $150,000 and expand access to include businesses with aggregated annual turnover of less than $500 million (up from $50 million) until 30 June 2020. For example, assets that may be able to be immediately written off are a concrete tank for a builder, a tractor for a farming business, and a truck for a delivery business.
$3.2 billion to back business investment by providing a time limited 15 month investment incentive (through to 30 June 2021) to support business investment and economic growth over the short term, by accelerating depreciation deductions. Businesses with a turnover of less than $500 million will be able to deduct an additional 50 per cent of the asset cost in the year of purchase.

These measures start today and will support over 3.5 million businesses (over 99 per cent of businesses) employing more than 9.7 million employees or 3 in every 4 workers. The measures are designed to support business sticking with investment they had planned, and encouraging them to bring investment forward to support economic growth over the short term.

Cash flow assistance for businesses

$6.7 billion to Boost Cash Flow for Employers by up to $25,000 with a minimum payment of $2,000 for eligible small and medium-sized businesses. The payment will provide cash flow support to businesses with a turnover of less than $50 million that employ staff, between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2020. The payment will be tax free. This measure will benefit around 690,000 businesses employing around 7.8 million people. Businesses will receive payments of 50 per cent of their Business Activity Statements or Instalment Activity Statement from 28 April with refunds to then be paid within 14 days.
$1.3 billion to support small businesses to support the jobs of around 120,000 apprentices and trainees. Eligible employers can apply for a wage subsidy of 50 per cent of the apprentice’s or trainee’s wage for up to 9 months from 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2020. Where a small business is not able to retain an apprentice, the subsidy will be available to a new employer that employs that apprentice.

Stimulus payments to households to support growth

$4.8 billion to provide a one-off $750 stimulus payment to pensioners, social security, veteran and other income support recipients and eligible concession card holders. Around half of those that will benefit are pensioners. The payment will be tax free and will not count as income for Social Security, Farm Household Allowance and Veteran payments. There will be one payment per eligible recipient. If a person qualifies for the one off payment in multiple ways, they will only receive one payment.

Payments will be from 31 March 2020 on a progressive basis, with over 90 per cent of payments expected to be made by mid-April.

Assistance for severely-affected regions

$1 billion to support those sectors, regions and communities that have been disproportionately affected by the economic impacts of the Coronavirus, including those heavily reliant on industries such as tourism, agriculture and education. This will include the waiver of fees and charges for tourism businesses that operate in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and Commonwealth National Parks. It will also include additional assistance to help businesses identify alternative export markets or supply chains. Targeted measures will also be developed to further promote domestic tourism. Further plans and measures to support recovery will be designed and delivered in partnership with the affected industries and communities.

The Government is also offering administrative relief for certain tax obligations, including deferring tax payments up to four months. This is similar to relief provided following the bushfires for taxpayers affected by the coronavirus, on a case-by-case basis. The ATO will set up a temporary shop front in Cairns within the next few weeks with dedicated staff specialising in assisting small business. In addition, the ATO will consider ways to enhance its presence in other significantly affected regions to make it easier for people to apply for relief, including considering further temporary shop fronts and face-to-face options.

The Government’s economic support package is proportionate, timely and scalable to respond to the economic challenges presented by the spread of the coronavirus.

Through our response today and the actions we have taken to bring the Budget back to balance over the last six and a half years, Australians can be confident that our nation is one of the best prepared to respond to the economic impacts of the coronavirus.

MEDIA RELEASE

12 Mar 2020

Prime Minister, Treasurer
https://www.pm.gov.au/media/economic-stimulus-package

Superannuation Amnesty is back on the table!

Posted on October 23, 2019 by Accounts - Blog, Featured Articles, News, Small Business, Superannuation

The Government’s superannuation amnesty for employers is now back on the table!

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Recovering Unpaid Superannuation) Bill 2019 was introduced into the House of Representatives on 18 September 2019. It seeks to legislate the super guarantee amnesty that the Government failed to pass into law before the Federal Election. The legislation provides for a one-off amnesty to encourage employers to self-correct historical SG non-compliance.

Specifically, an employer that qualifies for the amnesty in relation to their SG shortfall for a quarter:

Will have the administrative penalty waived ($20 per employee, per quarter)
Will have Part 7 penalties waived (this can be an additional penalty of up to 200% of the shortfall owed)
Will be able to deduct the late shortfall contribution (under current law, late payments cannot be deducted).

The beneficial treatment provided by the amnesty is available for a quarter that ends at least 28 days before the start of the amnesty period. This means that the beneficial treatment provided by the amnesty is available in relation to the quarter starting on 1 July 1992 (which is the day that Superannuation Guarantee commenced) and all subsequent quarters until and including the quarter starting on 1 January 2018. An employer will not be able to benefit from the amnesty for SG shortfalls relating to the quarter starting on 1 April 2018 or subsequent quarters.

To qualify for the amnesty, a disclosure must be made by an employer during the amnesty period. The amnesty period is the period that started on 24 May 2018 and ends 6 months after the day the legislation is passed (therefore, at least until March next year if the legislation passes next month).

On releasing the legislation, the Assistant Treasurer said.

Since the one-off amnesty was announced, over 7,000 employers have come forward to voluntarily disclose historical unpaid super. The ATO estimates an additional 7,000 employers will come forward due to the extension of the amnesty. This means around $160 million of superannuation will be paid to employees who would otherwise have missed out.

The amnesty reinforces recent changes to the superannuation system to improve the visibility employees have over their superannuation. We have given the ATO greater powers to ensure employers meet their obligations, and to help ensure employees receive their superannuation entitlements. The Government’s legislated package of integrity measures – part of the Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Measures No. 4) Act 2019 – includes up to 12 months jail for employers who continue to do the wrong thing by their workers, and gives the ATO near real-time visibility of how much SG employees are owed and the contributions they actually receive.

This is a practical measure that is all about reuniting hardworking Australians with their super. My message to employers who owe super is: come forward now. Do not delay. This is a one-off opportunity to set things right, and going forward the ATO has the tools to spot unpaid super.

Irrespective of whether the amnesty passes into law, all employers should strongly consider getting their superannuation affairs in order. There is now real time, and more granular reporting of superannuation liabilities and payments – down to the employee level. The ATO will now know in close to real time if an employer is not paying superannuation in respect of any employee. Therefore, it will be in a position to immediately follow up late payers.

Low and Middle Income Tax Offset Now Law

Posted on July 12, 2019 by Accounts - Blog, Featured Articles, General, Income Tax & FBT, News, News

The Federal Government’s Personal Income Tax Plan is now officially law. For 2018/2019 (the financial year just gone) the centrepiece of this plan was an increase to the low and middle income tax offset (LMITO) from a maximum $530 to $1,060.

Taxpayers with a taxable income:

* of $37,000 or below can now receive a LMITO of up to $255

* above $37,000 and below $48,000 can now receive $255, plus an amount equal to 7.5% to the maximum offset of $1,080

* above $48,000 and below $90,000 are now eligible for the maximum LMITO of $1,080

* above $90,000 but is no more than $126,000 are now eligible for a LMITO of $1,080, less an amount equal to three per cent of the excess.

With Tax Time 2019 just over a week old, 810,000 individual tax returns have now been lodged, an 88% increase from the same time last year – an increase largely attributable to anticipated refund as a result of the increased LMITO.

Despite the increase, ATO commissioner Chris Jordan has sought to reassure taxpayers that returns will begin flowing through from the end of this week.

“We were able to work over the weekend to make changes to our systems once the legislation was passed last week,” Mr Jordan said on Tuesday.

“All safety nets have been lifted from our processing, so our processing is now working absolutely full bore, 100%.”

“People do not need to do anything special; they just put their return in, and we will calculate their offsets and money will be hitting people’s bank accounts by Friday this week.”

Now the law has been passed, you may wish to get your 2018/2019 records to your Tax Agent and instruct them to lodge early rather than in the first part of next year (which is the normal lodgement time if lodging with a Tax Agent). By doing so, all other things being equal, you will bring forward your LMITO entitlement with a potential additional refund of up to $1,080 (subject to the above income limits, and subject to not otherwise having underpaid tax during the year).

If you lodge your own tax return, then remember you do not need to claim the LMITO separately – rather the ATO will process your claim automatically upon lodgement.

National Minimum Wage to Increase by 3%

Posted on May 30, 2019 by Accounts - Blog, Featured Articles, News

Get set for a 3.0% wage increase – 2019 Annual Wage ReviewThe Fair Work Commission has announced a 3.0% increase to minimum wages.
The new national minimum wage will be $740.80 per week or $19.49 per hour.
The increase applies from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2019.
Link to the Commissions’ Annual Wage Review 2018–19 https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/wage-reviews/2018-19/decisions/2019fwcb3500.pdf