Categories
Business Income tax Taxation

Reduce your tax bill before 30 June 2020

Tax planning 2020

The end of the 2020 Financial Year is upon us!

Can you reduce tax payable for the 2020 financial year?

With just 20 days to go, there may be a few last minute actions you can take to assist with tax minimisation.

Please get in touch with us to discuss your tax planning, if you haven’t already done so.

Time is ticking, so call Brad or Rick on (02) 8814 5677

Categories
Firm News

What to do when your supply chain faces disruption

If your company relies on suppliers in various geographic locations, it’s likely that your business will face a supply chain disruption. Whether that disturbance is caused by a virus, like Covid-19, regulatory lock-down, international tensions, changes in local laws or a natural disaster, there will probably be scenarios in which your suppliers or transporters face obstacles that affect your company.

Here are some steps you can take to respond to such situations and even prepare ahead of time for them.

1. Know your supply chain

An important first step to any preventive or reactive plan is to know your supply chain. You and your team should know who and where in the world your suppliers are, where their suppliers are (if they have any), and any regional laws or international tensions that could affect your supply chain.

Knowing how long transportation of goods takes can help you anticipate when your suppliers’ disruptions will affect you. For example, if you receive goods from China and manufacturing plants in that country have shut down, you might not be affected for a month or two. This gives you some time to review the situation and react based on your current inventory and your customers’ needs.

2. Reach out to your suppliers

Find out how the delays or issues affect your suppliers and how they plan to address the situation. If they don’t already have a plan in place—or if there isn’t anything they can do about the situation—you may need to take action on your own, such as finding new suppliers, sourcing new products, or planning new transport routes.

Reaching out to your suppliers can also help you more effectively manage any customers or clients waiting on goods from you. The more information you have, the better equipped you are to make decisions about your current status and how your business will operate through the disruption, or whether you need to slow down or shut down.

3. Plan ahead

Have contingency plans in place and set parameters for when the contingencies will be activated. If the disruption is likely to slow down delivery of goods but not stop it, place necessary orders ahead of time—even a month or two in advance of when you normally would.

If there is a chance your suppliers can’t get you the items you need, determine if another source can be found, even a temporary one.

Even if you aren’t currently affected by a supply chain disruption, knowing the alternatives available to you, how quickly they can respond and their cost provides you with a level of protection in the case of a risk to your supply chain.

Set guidelines for when you’ll turn to your alternate arrangements. If you wait too long, other companies could have already reached out to your alternatives, leaving you with no options.

Final thoughts

If possible, diversify your supply chain. It may cost a bit more, but you’re less vulnerable to disruptions if your suppliers exist in different areas. There are many issues out of your control that can affect your supply chain. It’s vital that you have a plan in place so you can respond to such scenarios and keep your business operational.

Get in touch with us if you have a question about your business. We are here to help you navigate the changes during this challenging time.

Categories
Firm News

JobKeeper – “Identify” wage subsidy to be claimed

By now, your eligible business will have enrolled for JobKeeper.

If not, you have until 8 May 2020 to do so – see our previous post for more info.

It’s now time for the next step:

IDENTIFY

  1. Log into the ATO Business Portal
  2. Click “Identify(the form to identify and maintain eligible employees, for JobKeeper wage subsidies.)
  3. Follow the steps, inputting each employee’s TFN, Date Of Birth and Fortnights (FN) for which the business is claiming JobKeeper.
    • Example – For the whole month of April, you will select ‘Claim FN 1 and 2’.
  4. Input the current ‘April’ GST turnover (excluding GST) as well as the projected turnover for May.
  5. Once submitted, a receipt will be displayed on your screen – save this.

 

Important:

  • You cannot save the form, while you are working on it, and you cannot edit it, once it is submitted.
  • Read the instructions carefully, to make sure you have all the information you need, before you start.

 

If you need any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us, on (02) 8814 5677.

 

Categories
Firm News

JobKeeper Payment: Enrol by 30 April 2020 [UPDATE: Extended to 8 May 2020]

As of Monday 20 April 2020, eligible businesses can now enrol for the JobKeeper payment.

You must do this by 30 April 2020 to claim JobKeeper payments for April.

The ATO have extended the date that you must to this by to 8 May 2020, in order to claim JobKeeper payments for April 2020.

You can do this by logging into the ATO Business Portal and using your myGovID authentication

 

In the online form:

  • provide bank details
  • indicate if you are claiming an entitlement based on business participation, i.e. if you are a sole trader, partner of a partnership or a trust beneficiary
  • specify the estimated number of employees who will be eligible for:
    • the first JobKeeper fortnight (30 March – 12 April 2020)
    • the second JobKeeper fortnight (13 April – 26 April 2020)

 

JobKeeper has been extended to include a business that is run through a trust, sole trader or partnership structure.

ONE partner in a partnership, ONE beneficiary in a trust, or ONE working director/shareholder in a company are all now able to claim the JobKeeper subsidy.

 

If you need a refresher on the steps that should have been completed already, check out our previous posts:

  1. JobKeeper Payment (Covid-19 Stimulus Package update)
  2. TO ALL BUSINESS OWNERS WHO EMPLOY STAFF (JobKeeper or not?)
  3. JobKeeper – The Next Step

 

We have also created some helpful decision trees:

  1. Is my Business Eligible for Jobkeeper
  2. My Business is Eligible – What Next
  3. Eligible Employees – Payroll Processing

 

Categories
Accounting Business

JobKeeper – The Next Step

Jobkeeper

 

 

  • You’ve already ascertained whether or not JobKeeper applies to you/your employees and and adjusted your pay templates. If not check out our second JobKeeper blog post

What next?

 

  • Continue to pay at least $1,500 to each eligible employee per JobKeeper fortnight (the first JobKeeper fortnight is the period from 30 March to 12 April 2020)

 

  • Be sure to check back here for the next update!

 

If you’re still a bit unsure, no problem, give as a call on (02) 8814 5677

 

 

 

Categories
Accounting Income tax

Covid-19 & working from home: What expenses can you claim?

Covid-19 is changing so much in our lives.

A lot of you are now working from home, when you weren’t previously.

A logical question then becomes: What expenses can I claim, now that I’m working from home?

We’ve got you covered…

Home, Office

Calculating running expenses

There are three ways you can choose to calculate your additional running expenses:

  1. shortcut method – described below
  2. fixed rate method
  3. actual cost method

For more information on how to calculate and claim a deductions under methods 2 & 3, see Home office expenses  or call us on (02) 8814 5677.

 

Shortcut method

You can claim a deduction of 80 cents for each hour you work from home, due to COVID-19, as long as you are:

  • working from home to fulfil your employment duties and not just carrying out minimal tasks such as occasionally checking emails or taking calls,
  • incurring additional deductible running expenses as a result of working from home.

You do not have to have a separate or dedicated area of your home set aside for working, such as a private study.

The shortcut method rate covers all deductible running expenses, including:

  • electricity for lighting, cooling or heating and running electronic items used for work (for example your computer), and gas heating expenses
  • the decline in value and repair of capital items, such as home office furniture and furnishings
  • cleaning expenses
  • your phone costs, including the decline in value of the handset
  • your internet costs
  • computer consumables, such as printer ink
  • stationery
  • the decline in value of a computer, laptop or similar device.

You do not have to incur all of these expenses, but you must have incurred additional expenses in some of those categories as a result of working from home due to COVID-19.

 

If you use the shortcut method to claim a deduction for your additional running expenses, you cannot claim a further deduction for any of the expenses listed above.

You must keep a record of the number of hours you have worked from home as a result of COVID-19. Examples are timesheets, diary notes or rosters.

 

If you use the shortcut method to claim a deduction, please remember to let us know when its time to prepare your 2019-20 tax return as we must include the note ‘COVID-hourly rate’ in your tax return.