As the impact of the coronavirus continues to evolve, we, along with many of you, face further uncertainty and inevitably challenging times ahead.
The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting all of us and we wanted to let you know how we are addressing it for the foreseeable future.
Our top priority is to protect the health and well being of our employees, clients and families.
Another top priority of ours is you, our clients, and your businesses.
Currently we are open and trading as normal. We have increased the cleaning and hygiene practices within our office and are complying with government instructions to help combat the spread of the virus.
We have some staff already working remotely, with measures in place to facilitate the rest of our team to work remotely, should this be best practice in the coming days or weeks.
We kindly ask that you please bear with us as we navigate these times of change.
We are fully committed to continuing to serve our clients, striving to provide solutions and professional services, with minimal disruption, where possible.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: ATO RELIEF
Businesses impacted by the coronavirus should contact the ATO to discuss relief options.
Options include:
- Deferring by up to four months – the payment date of amounts due through the Business Activity Statements (BAS), including: PAYG instalments, income tax assessments, FBT assessments and excise.
- Allowing 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 PAYG instalment amounts to zero for the March 2020 quarter. Those that do so, 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.
Please note that all of the above options must be applied for. Please contact the ATO directly on 1800 806 218 or contact our office, for assistance.
Please note: Superannuation Guarantee obligations, remain the same at present, meaning payable as per usual.
FURTHER INFORMATION: GOVERNMENT STIMULUS PACKAGES
We also attach below, some important and helpful information regarding the Government’s stimulus packages and updates that may be useful for your businesses.
As usual, none of this is provided as advice, but merely trying to breakdown some of the information and provide some helpful resources all in the one place.
We hope you find some value out of these documents, and encourage you to reach out and contact us should you have any questions or require further explanation.
Government Stimulus Package: https://www.lutzassoc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Coronavirus-special-update.pdf
Payroll Tax Relief: https://www.lutzassoc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/payroll-tax-relief-QLD-as-at-Tues-24-March-2020.pdf
We thank you for your understanding during these times.
Should you wish to discuss any of this in further detail, please contact our office on 07 5532 4555.
– The Lutz Team.