The HomeBuilder scheme targets the residential construction market by providing tax-free grants of $25,000 to eligible owner-occupiers, including first home buyers, to build a new home or substantially renovate their existing home. There are a few complexities to this grant that both home builders/renovators and the building industry need to be across before jumping in […]

A second round rolls out on 1 July, 2020. The grant is between $2,000 and $10,000. The aim of the grant is to prepare your business for a safe resumption of trading with an emphasis on creating or retaining employment. Funds can be used for professional advice, meeting ongoing business costs, strategic planning and business […]

To qualify for year ended 30 June, 2020 you must have the equipment (including cars) installed ready for use and paid for (or invoiced, if you use accruals) by 30 June, 2020. The measure has now been extended to 31 December, 2020 for half of next financial year. WARNING: the extended measure is not law […]

In a relatively short period of time, COVID-19 has changed many things – from the way we interact with each other to the way we do business. Whilst year end tax planning is always an important focus, a number of COVID-19 induced factors means that your year end tax planning for this financial year will […]

The ATO has denied any systemic issues around the processing of the cash-flow boost measure, noting that it only continues to interrogate claims in a “very small number of cases”. It is now understood that a recalibration of the ATO’s dataset over the past weekend should ensure the cash-flow boost payments are processed more smoothly, […]

A significant number of JobKeeper enrolment forms have been found to contain errors, slashing the cost of the program by almost half. An ATO review of the 910,055 businesses who have self-assessed as eligible under the JobKeeper scheme found that around 1000 made “significant errors” when reporting their estimates of eligible employees. “The most common […]

Business Owners have been advised to keep contemporaneous documentation of their calculations and advice around the JobKeeper payment scheme to avoid inevitable audit scrutiny in the near future. While the ATO has declared that it will take an “understanding and sympathetic” compliance approach when reviewing JobKeeper turnover projections, Business Owners have now been urged to […]

  Question I have a client who cannot afford to top up staff to the $1,500 JobKeeper level. But, there appears to be a one in all in rule. Is that right? Answer The Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Rules 2020 do not appear to have this specific requirement. However, the explanatory statement […]