Issue 31
07. Business Matters
COVID-19 Business Support By Brent Szalay FCPA, Managing Director, SEIVA.
We can see the light at the end of the tunnel! What’s more, there’s extra support to get your business there! Regional Victoria is now opening up, with Metropolitan Melbourne showing positive steps to keep it on track to achieve a ‘COVID normal’ in late November. This comes as a breath of fresh air in what has been a long and hard lockdown. To help you make it to the finish line, we’ve summarised some of the additional support that may be available to you in the coming months. JobKeeper Extension JobKeeper is a wage subsidy to assist businesses to retain the relationship with their employees during this COVID-19 pandemic. For your business to be eligible, you must experience a 30 per cent downturn in turnover in a particular time period compared to a relevant comparison period.
Regional Victoria is now opening up, with Metropolitan Melbourne showing positive steps to keep it on track to achieve a ‘COVID normal’ in late November. This comes as a breath of fresh air in what has been a long and hard lockdown.
At the end of September, JobKeeper, in its original form, ended. However, you might be able to access the JobKeeper extension! The JobKeeper extension sees an expansion of the program through to March 2020, with some rule alterations for the December and March business quarters. To be eligible for December quarter: you must have had a revenue downturn of 30 per cent in your September quarter. To be eligible for March quarter: you must have a revenue downturn of 30 per cent in your December quarter. Unlike the original JobKeeper program tests, your turnover for the JobKeeper Extension is calculated as your current GST turnover (actual GST turnover for the test period), compared to your GST turnover in a respective comparison period (usually the same period last year). This means you must use the same calculation method as you use to report for GST on your BAS (i.e. Cash or Accruals). In most cases, this will mean your test amounts will match the total sales label on your BASs. There may be some alternative tests you can use to determine eligibility. It’s vital for your cashflow to understand if you’re eligible for the extension as soon as possible! Make sure you’ve checked your eligibility. Remember, you may have had employees eligible at 1 March 2020 and more employees eligible at 1 July 2020! Another update to JobKeeper 2.0 is a reduction in payment amounts, which are tied to hours worked per week during a test period. This table provides a visual explanation: Worked < = 20 hours per week Dec Quarter $750 per fortnight March Quarter $650 per fortnight
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B U S I N E S S M AT T E R S
Worked > 20 hours per week $1,200 per fortnight $1,000 per fortnight
