Enrolment for the JobKeeper payment is now open. For the tens of thousands of businesses that registered their interest, you can now follow some simple steps to enrol and ensure you meet the record-keeping requirements. Some of the more basic steps include eligibility requirements for both the business and nominated employees. Other requirements include notifications of the nominated employees and record-keeping of required notice, as well as paying nominated employees the specific JobKeeper amount by the end of April.

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If you’ve been affected by the Coronavirus pandemic and want to access your super early, it may be beneficial to consult a qualified professional about the eligibility and other options that may be available to you. It won’t cost you an arm and a leg either, ASIC has recently granted a temporary AFS licensing exemption to allow registered tax agents to provide certain financial product advice

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SMSFs that own real property cannot give a tenant that is a related party, a rental price that is less than the market value. However, due to COVID-19, many landlords are voluntarily giving their tenants a reduction in rent or a waiver of rent to help them survive the economic downturn. This is in addition to the common set of principles announced by the National Cabinet which encourage tenants and landlords to agree on rent relief.

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Flexible working arrangements can include, among other things, remote working. In this video, the Wall Street Journal showcases how to create an ergonomic working environment. While there can be benefits to remote working, there also can be challenges – these may need to be appropriately managed by both the employer and the employee. In this video, the Wall Street Journal showcases how to create an ergonomic working environment to help reduce work-related repetitive strain injuries.

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The establishment of an appropriate measure to mitigate a negative outcome that arises from an adverse event, whether expected or not, is an important consideration.  However, the importance and benefit of doing so is often not truly realised until an adverse event occurs.  When an adverse event occurs, the outcome for those with an appropriately established measure and those without can be vastly different. One may stave off a negative outcome while the other may not.

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Small to medium employers who intend to claim the “cash flow boost payment” (minimum of $10,000 and a maximum of $50,000) announced in the second round of stimulus hoping to receive an injection of cash should beware. The “payment” is not actually a payment, rather it is a credit that will be offset against of the liabilities that appear on the BAS and any debits in a taxpayer’s RBA.

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Many financial decisions we make regarding our personal finances can involve a certain level of risk.
However, the level of risk that we are willing (tolerance) and able (capacity) to take, can vary from one person to the next.
This is normal, and is often due the differences that exist in our: 1. financial situation, goals and objectives, 2. desire to align our investment values with our personal values, 3. expected investment performance, time horizon, and tolerance/capacity for risk, and 4. understanding of investment fundamentals (risk/return, asset classes, and diversification).
Given this, when it comes to investing, an important initial step is to determine our investment risk profile. This is relevant regardless of our investment structure (super or non-super), or investment time horizon.
Our investment risk profile defines our chosen asset allocation. This is the weightings held within our investment portfolio with respect to the different types of asset classes:

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Have you been directed by your company to work from home to limit the spread of the coronavirus? If so, you may be able to claim a deduction for the additional running costs you incur. The costs you could claim include work-related portion of any heating, cooling, lighting for the area you’re working from, work-related phone and internet, and work-related decline in value of a computer and associated office equipment. To claim these expenses, you must keep specific records ranging from diary entries to receipts.
With the majority of Australia now under lockdown to slow the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers are either encouraging their employees to work from home or have now instituted mandatory work from home policies. While working from home has its benefits, there may be extra expenses too, ranging from printing costs, the need for more internet data and perhaps even additional equipment.

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A series of administrative measures to assist businesses experiencing financial difficulty as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been announced by the ATO. These include deferring the payment date and amounts due on BASs, income tax assessments, FBT assessments, and excise by up to 4 months. Businesses will also be allowed to change payment and reporting cycles for GST and vary PAYG instalment amounts. Any interest or penalties applied to tax liabilities incurred after 23 January 2020 may be remitted.
ATO has recently announced that it will implement a series of administrative measures to assist taxpayers experiencing financial difficulty as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The measures that will apply is similar to those for taxpayers affected by the bushfires. However, one important point of difference is that while the bushfire measures applied automatically to particular geographical areas, assistance for those impacted by COVID-19 will not be automatically implemented.

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