Update 31 March 2020
The Australian Government is providing financial assistance to Australians to support them through the Coronavirus.
Please click on links below for more information. (All information provided is as of 30 March 2020).
The JobKeeper payment helps businesses significantly impacted by the Coronavirus cover the costs of their employees’ wages. Your employer will notify you if they intend to claim the fortnightly payment of $1,500 on your behalf.
How to apply
Eligible businesses, including not-for-profits, charities and self-employed individuals, will need to register an intention to apply on the ATO’s website.
Information on the number of eligible employees engaged as at 1 March 2020 and those currently employed by the business, including those stood down or rehired, will need to be provided to the ATO, although the Tax Office will look to use Single Touch Payroll data to pre-populate the employee details for the business.
The ATO will make payments to the employers monthly in arrears, but the first payment will be sent in the first week of May and will be backdated to 30 March 2020 to allow employers to start paying their workers now.
Employers will be required to report the number of eligible employees employed by the business to the ATO on a monthly basis.
Over the next six months, the Government is temporarily expanding eligibility to income support payments and establishing a new, time-limited Coronavirus supplement to be paid at a rate of $550 per fortnight. This will be paid to both existing and new recipients of JobSeeker Payment, Youth Allowance Jobseeker, Parenting Payment, Farm Household Allowance and Special Benefit.
The Government is providing two separate $750 payments to social security, veteran and other income support recipients and eligible concession card holders. The first payment will be made from 31 March 2020 and the second payment will be made from 13 July 2020. Click here to see who is eligible.
The Government is allowing individuals affected by the Coronavirus to access up to $10,000 of their superannuation in 2019-20 and a further $10,000 in 2020-21. Individuals will not need to pay tax on amounts released and the money they withdraw will not affect Centrelink or Veterans’ Affairs payments.
The Government is temporarily reducing superannuation minimum drawdown requirements for account-based pensions and similar products by 50 per cent for 2019-20 and 2020-21. This measure will benefit retirees holding these products by reducing the need to sell investment assets to fund minimum drawdown requirements.
For those on Age or Service Pension the Government has also reduced the deeming rates for the income test as of 1 May 2020.
Source and credit: treasury.gov.au/coronavirus
Business News Australia provides some helpful tips to business and individuals on keeping up to date with Covid19 pandemic and providing some resilience surrounding these changes.
Here are some of their latest links.
Source and credit: businessaustralia.com