To assist businesses experiencing financial difficulty as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) as announced the following relief options:
- Payment Deferrals
If you or your business has been impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, the ATO can work with you to defer some payments and vary instalments you have due - such as Income Tax, Activity Statement (including PAYG instalments), Fringe Benefit Tax, and Excise Payments by up to four (4) months.
- Monthly GST Credits
Businesses on a quarterly Reporting cycle may elect to change their GST Reporting and payment to monthly, to get quicker access to GST refunds you are entitled to.
You can only change from the start of a quarter, so a change now will take effect from 1 April 2020.
Changing your GST Reporting cycle to monthly doesn't mean you have to change your PAYG Withholding Reporting cycle. You can manage this by specifying the roles you are changing.
Once you choose to report and pay GST monthly, you must keep reporting monthly for 12 months before you can elect to revert to quarterly reporting.
However, if your GST turnover is more than $20 million, you must pay and report monthly.
If you're registered for Fuel Tax Credits, and change your GST Reporting from quarterly to monthly, you will also need to claim your Fuel Tax Credits monthly.
- Pay As You Go (PAYG) Instalments
If you are a quarterly Pay As You Go (PAYG) instalments payer, you can vary your PAYG instalments on your Activity Statement for the March 2020 quarter. You can do this by lodging a revised Activity Statement before your instalment is due and before you lodge your tax return for the year.
Businesses that vary their PAY Instalment rate or amount can also claim a refund for any instalments made for the September 2019 and December 2019 quarters.
If you are a monthly payer and have a base assessment instalment income of $500 million or less, and want to vary your instalment rate and claim a refund on previous instalments paid, you will need to contact the ATO directly to discuss.
If you realise you're made a mistake working out your PAYG instalment, you can correct it by lodging a revised Activity Statement or varying a subsequent instalment.
- Remitting Interest & Penalties
Where your business is affected by COVID-19, the ATO will consider remitting interest and penalties applied to tax liabilities incurred after 23 January 2020.
- Low Interest Payment Plans
If your business has been affected by COVID-19 and you need help to pay your existing and on-going tax liabilities, you can contact the ATO to discuss entering a low-interest payment plan.
- Super Guarantee Payments
Employers still need to meet Super Guarantee obligations for their employees.
Please note, the above assistance provided by the ATO will not be automatically applied, and you will need to contact the ATO directly to discuss your circumstances.
The ATO will ensure that services are tailored and will work to support individual circumstances.
QLD Government - Assistance & Support
- Payroll Tax Assistance
The Queensland Government has announced a "Payroll Tax Holiday" period - outlining that SME businesses with an annual Australian wage bill of up to $6.5 million are eligible to defer Payroll Tax obligations for six-months - backdated from 1 February 2020.
- Interest-Free Concessional Loan
The QLD Government has also announced a Concessional Loan program to help support businesses impacted by Coronavirus.
The program will offer loans of up to $250,000 with an initial 12-month interest free period to help businesses retain their staff.
More information is due to be released and can be found via www.qrida.qld.gov.au.
For More Information
For more information, please refer to the ATO website or contact the Archer Gowland office on (07) 3002 2699.
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