Most of you would have heard by now about the government’s Coronavirus economic stimulus package.
The government is planning to introduce these measures to help protect the economy and help keep people in jobs.
More detail will be released over the next few weeks as the Bills are introduced into Parliament, but the four key measures are:
- Delivering support for business investment
- Cash flow assistance for employers
- Stimulus payments to households to support growth
- Assistance for severely af f fected regions
The Government has committed an additional $2.4 billion to support our health system to manage any further outbreak in Australia.
In addition, the Government has also committed to cover 50 per cent of additional hospital costs incurred by states and territories related to the diagnosis and treatment of patients with, or suspected of having, the Coronavirus.
Please remember these measures are only announcements at this stage!
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will also implement a series of administrative measures to assist Australians experiencing financial difficulty as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Options available to assist businesses impacted by COVID-19 include:
- Deferring by up to four months the payment date of amounts due through the business activity statement (including PAYG instalments), income tax assessments, fringe benefits tax assessments and excise.
- Allow businesses on a quarterly reporting cycle to opt into monthly GST reporting in order to get quicker access to GST refunds they may be entitled to.
- Allowing businesses to vary Pay As You Go (PAYG) instalment amounts to zero for the March 2020 quarter. Businesses that vary their PAYG instalment to zero can also claim a refund for any instalments made for the September 2019 and December 2019 quarters.
- Remitting any interest and penalties, incurred on or after 23 January 2020, that have been applied to tax liabilities.
- Working with affected businesses to help them pay their existing and ongoing tax liabilities by allowing them to enter into low interest payment plans.
Employers will still need to meet their ongoing super guarantee obligations for their employees.
The attached newsletter goes into more detail about all of the above measures. If you would like to discuss any of the above further, we encourage you to contact your Byfields accountant.
Click below to download the full newsletter
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Economic Stimulus Package