COVID-19 HQB Update on JobKeeper

We trust that the period of lockdown is going to help Australia return to some semblance of normality sooner rather than later. In the meantime, if you have any questions about your financial affairs, please our office for assistance.

At HQB, our office has been primarily shut for several weeks now, with most of our accountants working from home. A small group of the administration team has stayed in office working tirelessly to maintain client contact and create processes in the face of an ever changing landscape.

Now turning to JobKeeper – which has been the main focus of our attention at the moment:

• Enrolments – Initial registration has to be completed by the 30^th HQB is on track by assisting clients with this process. It is a very interesting process as we are finding changes to the ATO documentation almost daily. If you haven’t received a copy of your enrolment by Tuesday 28^th April, please email us.
• Employee Payments – You must have paid your employees before they are entitled to receive the JobKeeper payments so ensure that ALL eligible employees have been paid for the periods you are claiming for.
• Employee Nomination Notices – You must hold a completed and signed nomination notice for all employees registered for the JobKeeper payments. We will require a copy of these by the 30^th April so please forward ASAP as we cannot progress to the next stage of the process without these documents.
• Lodging Employee Details – Following the above, we are required to provide the ATO with your employee’s details. Employers using Single Touch Payroll (STP) enabled payroll software can lodge this information to the ATO within their software. As there will be a few new steps to implement, we are presently reviewing the payroll software changes and expect to update you early next week.
• Monthly Reporting – The next part of the process requires a monthly declaration to be lodged by 7^th of the following month. Within this declaration, we will need to report last month’s turnover as well as your projected turnover for the following month. This will be a monthly ongoing reporting process for 6 months.

There continue to be a number of other incentives available, with the employer cash back (reducing BAS payments) being the biggest one. We expect the refunds will start to be deposited into your bank accounts commencing the end of April. Our office is also prioritising these BAS with an expectation to lodge next week.

In reality, the taxation world is a very complex, ever-changing and very busy place to be at the moment. HQB is striving to assist all our clients during this time. To support us with achieving this, we ask that you please keep your accounting systems as up to date as possible.

In the meantime, stay safe and well.

– Ian Hogbin

Posted 24.04.2020

This article is compiled as a helpful guide for your private information and is subject to copyright. We suggest that you do not act solely on the basis of material contained in this article because items are of general nature only and may be liable to misinterpretation in particular circumstances. We recommend that our advice be sought before acting on any of these crucial areas.