To All Our Valued Clients
In the interests of personal and business safety for all of us during this crisis, we have switched to 100% remote operations within our office and if advised will go remotely out of the office. If we do go remotely out of the office we will only have our phone directed to one phone so please be patient if you are calling our office number. We are committed to continuing to assist you during this shift to the new way of working. Let’s hope we can all continue our business in some way during this time.
Firstly, look after yourself.
Many people will be feeling the effects of this uncertain time. If you are having trouble coping with this, please seek help before it becomes too big to deal with. If you need extra support for sustaining your wellbeing through this time, check the ATO Health and Wellbeing webpage for a list of organisations offering free support for business owners.
Your tax agent and/or financial advisor will be vital resources during this time. Please talk to us or them earlier rather than later for advice about upcoming financial obligations. Remember they may be stretched, so please be patient.
Business loans are available with no repayments for six months. Talk to your tax agent and banking institution to assess whether this will be useful for your business to help stay afloat for the foreseeable future.
The government assistance will be available for the March 2020 BAS. This includes a credit of PAYG withholding, the ability to vary PAYG instalments to nil, deferral of payments and low interest payment plans. Any ATO credits applicable to you will be automatically applied upon lodgement of the March BAS, which will either reduce the amount payable or result in a refund. There will be more assistance for the June BAS and beyond.
Please note we are going to be flat out preparing March Bas over the next 4-8 weeks so please send in your documentation after 1st April and we will be triaging this work on a first in basis. Please try and make sure everything is included as we are not going to be able to continuously chase for documentation we don’t receive.
Please note – even if you are unable to pay the March BAS, we will need to lodge the BAS as usual by the due date. Although assistance is available now to help keep businesses operating, at this stage we are acting on the assumption that ATO debts will be deferred but not waived, therefore there will come a time when the debts will be due. We will keep you updated if there any changes to the ATO information.
We are keeping up to date with Federal and State Government announcements, employment issues and cash flow planning options. We are also in regular contact with all our Associations and the ATO to stay informed about issues affecting business.
Essential Links for Employers and Business Owners
There is a great deal of information being published, and I/we encourage you to stay updated with the official websites.
- Fair Work Ombudsman Coronavirus and Australian workplace laws – workplace entitlements and obligations.
- Fair Work Ombudsman hotline – 13 13 94 and select the option for Coronavirus.
- Australian Government Coronavirus Health Alert – daily updates of the current status, essential information and advice.
- Check your local Chamber of Commerce or state government website for dedicated employer guides.
- ATO Emergency Support Infoline – 1800 806 218
- ATO COVID-19 – current information.
- The Australian Government economic response to coronavirus – regular updates as the government continues to release information.
- ATO Health and wellbeing – links to organisations that offer assistance to small business owners.
Please let uss know if there is anything we can assist with such as cash flow planning, financial reporting, budgeting or information or even if you just want to have a chat we are here for you.
Kind regards,
Debbie Demooy
