How will Coronavirus effect you from a tax perspective?

In light of the recent developments around the Coronavirus (or COVID-19) and the uncertainty we are all facing day to day, we felt it important to email you to assure you that we expect no major interruptions to the services that we provide to you.

OUR CLOUD SYSTEMS MEAN YOU CAN ALWAYS CONTACT US IF YOU NEED US

While we don’t know if we’ll be working from our office or working from our homes in coming weeks, we have invested heavily in the latest technology over the past years, and this means we can keep assisting you no matter what may happen.

All members of our team are able to work remotely and have access to all the technology systems and tools they use daily to assist their clients.

If you have any general queries, requests for bookings for meetings or requests for documents, please feel free to contact us.

Please keep emailing or phoning when you need us, and we will be here to help you!

GOOD ADVICE IS NEEDED NOW MORE THAN EVER

GOVERNMENT STIMULUS PACKAGE – OUR TAX PLANNING MEETING WITH YOU THIS YEAR WILL BE VITAL!

The Australian Government has just released a $17.6 billion economic stimulus package. The package has been marketed as a measure to protect the economy by maintaining confidence, supporting investment and keeping people in their jobs.

The key tax and stimulus measures include:

Business Investment

·         From Thursday 12 March 2020, the instant asset write-off threshold has been increased from $30,000 (for businesses with an aggregated turnover of less than $50 million) to $150,000 (for businesses with an aggregated turnover of less than $500 million) until 30 June 2020.

·         A time-limited 15-month investment incentive (through to 30 June 2021) which will operate to accelerate certain depreciation deductions. This measure will also be available to businesses with a turnover of less than $500 million, which will be able to immediately deduct 50% of the cost of an eligible asset on installation, with existing depreciation rules applying to the balance of the asset’s cost. As announced, this measure is proposed to only apply to new depreciating assets first used, or installed ready for use, by 30 June 2021.

Cashflow Assistance

·         Tax-free payments of up to $25,000 for eligible small and medium businesses (i.e., with a turnover of less than $50 million that employ staff) based on their PAYG withholding obligations. This is not a cash payment, but it is a credit equal to 50% of the PAYG amounts withheld from salary and wages paid to employees.

Businesses that lodge activity statements on a quarterly basis will be eligible to receive the credit for the quarters ending March 2020 and June 2020. Business that lodge on a monthly basis will be eligible for the credit for the March 2020, April 2020, May 2020 and June 2020 lodgements.

If a business pays salary and wages to employees but is not required to withhold any tax, then a minimum payment of $2,000 will still be made. The minimum $2,000 payment will be applied to the first activity statement lodgement.

·         Wage subsidies to support the retention of apprentices and trainees – Employers with less than 20 full-time employees may be entitled to apply for Government funded wage subsidies amounting to 50% of an apprentice’s or trainee’s wage for up to nine months from 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2020. The maximum subsidy for each apprentice/trainee is $21,000.

Individual Assistance

·         Tax-free payments of $750 to social security, veteran and other income support recipients and eligible concession card holders. It is estimated that around half of those who will benefit will be pensioners. These payments will commence to be automatically made from 31 March 2020.

NEXT STEPS

These are times when we need to stay calm and rely on reliable news sources and information from State and Australian Government websites. What you see on social media may be panicky and unreliable information – stay away from this!

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

For specific advice regarding your circumstances and the implication for your business, please contact either McFillin & Partners on 07 3263 7030