Update Friday 24 April 2020

There’s no doubt that ANZAC Day 2020 will be different to how we traditionally commemorate. While we cannot gather at services and marches, we can be together in spirit.

By standing at the end of your driveway, in your living room, or on your balcony at 6am on ANZAC Day, we can be united in the ANZAC spirit to remember all those who served and sacrificed.

How to Hold Your ANZAC Day Service at Home

RSL Queensland have provided a digital recording of the Dawn Service.

At 6am on ANZAC Day, you can visit the rslanzacspirit.com.au web page and play the service.

The ABC will also be broadcasting a Dawn Service at 5:30am You will be able to live stream this service via the RSL NSW Facebook page.

The most important thing is that we acknowledge ANZAC Day, and stand, pause and remember all those who served and sacrificed. Some people may choose to hold candles, or lay wreaths on their driveways. For others, it may be a few minutes of contemplative silence.

Order of Service for 10am Service

Later in the day, we will also be live-streaming a 10am closed service from Sydney. Like RSL NSW on Facebook to ensure you catch it.

• Welcome and Acknowledge of Country

• The Last to Leave by Leon Gellert

• Commemorative Address

• Wreath Laying Ceremony

• The Ode

• The Last Post

• One minutes silence

• Reveille

• New Zealand national anthem

• Australian national anthem

Please join us and the rest of Australia and #lightupthedawn this ANZAC Day.

For more click on the link below.

Source and credit: RSL NSW

URGENT REMINDER - EMPLOYERS MUST BE REGISTERED BY THIS SUNDAY, 26 APRIL 2020 TO OBTAIN APRIL PAYMENTS

The ATO has now updated its guidance on the JobKeeper payment scheme, giving effect to a key feature that requires all eligible employees to be nominated for the $1,500 per fortnight payment.

The ATO has advised that if you decide to participate in the JobKeeper payment scheme, you must nominate all of your eligible employees.

As an Employer, you cannot select which eligible employees will participate in the scheme. This ‘one in, all in’ rule is a key feature of the scheme.

There will be implications as participating employers will not have a choice as to which employees they select to go into the scheme. They will be required to pay a minimum of $1,500 a fortnight upfront, and then they’ll be reimbursed by the ATO the following month.

This will have serious cash-flow implications and employers should carefully consider whether the JobKeeper scheme is the right choice for them.

Businesses may have a large, long-term casual workforce which may earn less than $1,500 dollars a fortnight. To go into JobKeeper, employers would need to top up those workers to $1,500 a fortnight which would need to be funded until they are reimbursed by the ATO.

With employers unable to qualify for JobKeeper, if you pay your eligible employees less than the minimum $1,500 per fortnight, you could also find yourselves liable for civil penalties under the Fair Work Act upon failure to meet the wage condition.

Section 789GD of the Fair Work Act notes that "employers must ensure that the wage condition has been satisfied in respect of the employee by the end of the fortnight or face civil penalty amounting to 60 penalty units or 600 penalty units for serious contraventions, equating to $12,600 and $126,000, respectively, under the current $210 penalty unit value."

Source and credit: Accountants Daily

Eligible businesses and not for profits will receive a tax-free cash flow boost between $20,000 and $100,000 through credits when their activity statements are lodged with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Businesses must lodge their activity statement for PAYG withholding as normal. Businesses with larger withholdings must lodge the activity statement for other obligations (such as GST) as well.

There are two different outcomes depending on when the lodgements are made. A business that lodges before their due date of March 2020 will likely have excess credits applied against outstanding debts with other Australian Government agencies. Lodgings from 28 April would likely receive a refund amount.

Temporary Cash Boost eligibility criteria

Most businesses will be eligible to receive the cash flow boost if they:

• are a small or medium business entity or not for profit of equivalent size (with aggregated annual turnover less than $50 million)

• held an ABN on 12 March 2020

• made payments to employees, including withholding (even if the amount you withheld is zero), including:

• salary and wages

• director fees

• eligible retirement or termination payments

• compensation payments

• voluntary withholding from payments to contractors

• have lodged, on or before 12 March 2020, at least one of:

• a 2018–19 income tax return showing that you had an amount included in your assessable income in relation to you carrying on a business

• an activity statement or GST return for any tax period that started after 1 July 2018 and ended before 12 March 2020 showing that you made a taxable, GST-free or input-taxed sale.

Under very exceptional circumstances, discretion may be given to provide a business with further time, after 12 March 2020, to:

• hold an ABN

• provide notice that business income or supplies were made.

A business is not eligible for the cash flow boosts if the business operations changed in order to be entitled to receive cash flow boosts.

Initial Cash Flow boost

The initial boost is based on the amount a business withholds tax on their employee salary and wages. It will be delivered as credits in the activity statement system when a business lodges activity statements for each monthly or quarterly period from March to June 2020, except for:

• Monthly lodgers will receive a credit for March 2020 which is 300% of their withholding for that month, providing a close equivalent to lodgers reporting quarterly.

• Eligible businesses will receive a minimum of $10,000 across March to June 2020, even if their total withholding is less than $10,000.

• Total cash flow boosts for March to June 2020 can’t exceed $50,000.

If a business receives the minimum credit of $10,000, they will not be eligible to receive any more cash flow boosts until PAYG withholding exceeds $10,000 over the eligibility periods.

Additional Cash Flow boost

If a business received an initial cash flow boost, they will receive an additional cash flow boost equalling the total initial boost amount upon lodging activity statements for each monthly or quarterly period from June to September 2020.

The boost will be delivered in either two or four instalments, depending on the reporting period.

Source and credit: Business Australia