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01st Dec, 2020
The Federal Government has released an exposure draft of the rules for the JobMaker Hiring Credit, which was announced in the 2020–2021 Budget in October.
JobMaker will take the form of a payment to employers for each new eligible job they create over the next 12 months. It is estimated that the scheme will cost $4 billion and support about 450,000 employees.
Generally, the amount of the JobMaker Hiring Credit payment depends on the age of the eligible additional employee when their employment starts. Employers can receive up to $200 per week for each eligible additional employee aged 16 to 29 years, and up to $100 per week for each eligible additional employee aged 30 to 35 years.
JobMaker starts on 7 October 2020 and ends on 6 October 2022, but payments will only apply for eligible people who commence employment between 7 October 2020 and 6 October 2021 (that is, during the first year).
17th Nov, 2020
An additional category for alternative “decline in turnover” tests is now available for the purposes of the revised JobKeeper payment system (which commenced on 28 September 2020) for entities that temporarily ceased trading for some or all of the relevant comparative period.
Under the revised system, an entity must have had an actual decline in its turnover for the applicable quarter relative to the same quarter in 2019. This generally involves making a one-to-one comparison of the 2020 numbers to those in the corresponding period in 2019, to see if it exceeds the 15%, 30% or 50% decline threshold (depending the type of entity).
Alternative tests can only be used if there is not an “appropriate relevant comparison period” in 2019, and four requirements must be satisfied for an entity to use the alternative tests for the new “temporary cessation of business” category. That is, in the comparison period:
11th Apr, 2020
Some states, including New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania, have followed in the Federal Government’s footsteps to provide their own stimulus and concessions for mostly small to medium businesses and in some cases to individuals and families. Most of the measures are payroll-tax-related, aimed at giving small to medium businesses a cash flow boost during this difficult time, while other measures including fee waivers, grants, relief payments and concessional loans.
12th Feb, 2020
The proposed $10,000 economy-wide cash payment limit has understandably elicited some confusion. While the proposal is not yet law, once enacted it will be a criminal offence for certain entities to make or accept cash payments of $10,000 or more. This is intended to combat the use of cash in black economy activities.
Chief among the questions is to what extent personal transactions will be included in the limit. The government has now released information outlining the circumstances in which the limit would not apply in relation to personal or private transactions.
Among other categories, payments relating to personal or private transactions (excluding transactions involving real property) would not be subject to the limit. Cash gifts to family members (as long as they are not donations to regulated entities such as charities) and inheritances are likely to be exempt. In other words, it is unlikely you will be prosecuted if you give your family members a lavish cash wedding gift or help your kids with a house deposit that happens to be over $10,000.
However, if you occasionally sell private assets (eg a used car) you may need to be careful and take reasonable steps to ascertain whether the other party is acting in the course of an enterprise.