Blog

ATO DOCUMENTS: Changes you need to know about

We have implemented some changes to the way we process information from the ATO to our clients.

This new system will allow us to deliver ATO correspondence directly to your email and most importantly securely. Due to the changes in the layout and delivery of these documents, we wanted to give you a heads up to make sure you know it’s real and not a scam! 

1. Firstly, you will now receive an email from Flor-Hanly - <noreply@florhanly.com.au><hub.ddslive.center@ddslive.com.au>
2. You will then receive a text on your mobile phone with a security pin.
3. Open your email and click the link provided and use the security pin to access the link to the ATO correspondence

It’s very easy but please feel free to give us a call on 07 4963 4800 if you’re unsure.

STP changes for small employers with closely held payees

There are changes to Single Touch Payroll (STP) reporting for small employers with closely held payees and quarterly reporting for micro employers from 1 July 2021.

This may affect how you report to the Tax Office.

Employers should be reporting through STP unless they only have closely held payees, or they are covered by a deferral or exemption.

Employers with closely held payees

From 1 July 2021, employers must report their closely held payees through STP. They can choose to report these payees each payday, monthly or quarterly.

Micro employers reporting quarterly

From 1 July 2021, the eligibility criteria for the STP quarterly reporting concessions for micro employers will change and will only be available to micro employers who:

• report through a registered tax professional
• meet certain eligibility requirements which now include the need for special circumstances to exist.

You can apply for a concession from 1 July 2021 - ask Flor-Hanly how on 07 4963 4800. If your business has not started reporting through STP and does not have a deferral or exemption, you need to start reporting now.

Source: ATO

The Jobmaker Hiring Credit is an incentive for employers to hire additional eligible employees between the period 7 October 2020 and 6 October 2021.  The jobmaker hiring credit will be paid from February 1, 2021 for the first Jobmaker period.  (7 October 2020 to 6 January 2021) It will be paid every three months to employers in arrears.  This will help with the cost of employing additional employees.

Employee Eligibility Requirements:

• They must be young job seekers between the age of 16-35 years.
• They must start employment with you between 7 October 2020 and 6 October 2021 
• They need to have received one of three eligible types of income support.  Either the Jobseeker payment, the youth allowance or parenting payment for at least 28 consecutive days during the 6 fortnights before commencing employment.
• They must not have completed a Jobmaker employer notice for another employer that they are still working for. 
• The employee needs to work at least 20 hours per week on average, during the Jobmaker period.

Employer Eligibility Requirements:

• Operates a business or is Not for Profit or DGR (Deductible Gift Recipient) in Australia.
• Holds an ABN.
• Is registered for PAYG Withholding.
• Has not claimed Jobkeeper for a fortnight that started during the JobMaker period.
• Is up to date with Income Tax and GST obligations
• The employee must be in addition to your current staff number.  (The baseline headcount must increase.)
• The total payroll amount paid to employees must increase. 
• Must be up to date and reporting via STP.

If all eligibility requirements are satisfied, registration has already opened.  The first claim period begins on February 1, 2021 and closes on April 30, 2021.  (For the JobMaker period 7 October 2020 to 6 January 2021) You can register via your Tax or BAS agent, ATO online services (MyGov) or the Business Portal (MyGov ID).

Eligible employers may receive payments up to:

• $200 a week for eligible employees aged between 16 and 29.
• $100 a week for eligible employees aged between 30 to 35.

If you require any further information, please contact our office on (07) 4963 4800.

Scheme encourages eligible Queenslanders to meet short-term labour shortage demands in agriculture

Applications will close once all funding has been allocated or before 30 June 2021.

Employees could be eligible for payments of up to $1,500 to assist with accommodation and transport costs associated with travelling and staying in remote locations.

Your employment will need to be with an eligible employer. The criteria employees will need to meet are outlined in the updated guidelines.

The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries is managing this program and application can be initiated by accessing the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) application portal.

Your employment can be with different eligible employers, physical locations or farms in the eligible regions in recognition that workers can work with multiple employers depending on available work.

Timing for employee applications:

• initial payment applications ($500) must be received within 4 weeks of the employee completing 2 weeks of continuous employment.
• second and final payment applications ($1,000) must be received within 4 weeks of the employee completing an additional 6 weeks of employment (a total of 8 weeks).

The Back to Work in Agriculture Incentive Scheme is a key element of Queensland’s Economic Recovery Strategy: Unite and Recover for Queensland Jobs to help accelerate the state’s recovery from COVID-19. Call the team at Flor-Hanly in Mackay on 07 4963 4800 for advice or help with an application.

Source: QLD Dept of Agriculture and Fisheries

Looking for funding to support your business in QLD? 

There sure is no shortage of financial support for businesses in Queensland, it’s just a matter of finding the one that’s right for your business, so make sure to do your research and always check the eligibility criteria.

QLD GRANTS FOR WOMEN

Queensland’s women in business receive support through the innovative and inspiring Spark Female Founders Program. There’s also a Women’s Research Assistance Program (WRAP) available for female scientists to continue their research while on maternity or adoption leave.

GRANTS FOR ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLE

The Business Development and Assistance Program provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in businesses with access to finance products, advice, training, and workshops to start or grow a small-to-medium business. There’s also the Indigenous Innovation and Entrepreneur Pathway (IIEP) Program QLD, the Indigenous Pathways Scholarship Program, and the One Business program.

QLD SOCIAL ENTERPRISE FUNDING

In this category, businesses can apply for grants to help Queenslanders improve their local communities. For example, through the:

• Bike Riding Encouragement Program
• Social Enterprise Grants Program
• Regional Recycling Transport Assistance Package for recycling
• Resource Recovery Industry Development Program for waste recovery.

QLD TOURISM AND EVENTS GRANTS

While travel might not be front of mind right now, it will be again at some point. So for ventures looking to boost the local events and tourism industry, there are funding options such as the Queensland Destination Events Program and the Attracting Tourism Fund.

COVID-19 AND DISASTER-RECOVERY GRANTS

If your business has been affected by COVID-19, the Queensland Government offers support in the shape of the Small Business COVID-19 Adaption Grant for small and micro-businesses. There are also Small Business Disaster Recovery Grants and Drought Relief Assistance Scheme (DRAS) for those affected by extreme weather and natural disasters.

• Related reading: Small business grants in Queensland

Need support or advice? Contact the team at Flor-Hanly in Mackay on 07 4963 4800.

Source: Business Australia

Support for businesses in QLD

How do you know if there’s something for you? Read on to learn more about some of the grants available in QLD.

QLD GRANTS FOR INNOVATION

While business grants for innovation open, close and change over time, the Queensland Government’s ‘Advance Queensland’ programme is generally a good place to start. Here, the state government updates and lists grants for everything from small businesses to female founders and much more.

For example, there’s the Advance Queensland Industry Attraction Fund (AQIAF), an Indigenous Native Food Program and even the Business Development Fund QLD.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (R&D) GRANTS AND TAX INCENTIVES

In the life sciences sector, the Life Sciences Catalyst provides access to capital and knowledge as well as training and resources to help businesses scale up or diversify into new markets. The R&D Tax Incentive Program helps offset money spent on R&D which benefits the wider Australian economy.

QLD GRANTS FOR STARTUPS

Startups should look at the Startup Onramp Regional Queensland Program which provides training and an accelerator program for high-growth startups. The Business Growth Fund Program also provides targeted assistance for small and medium businesses that demonstrate high-growth and employment aspirations.

SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS IN QLD

The Small Business Artisan Producer Grants Program is designed to help artisan producers of gourmet food grow their business. There’s also the Small Business Digital Grants Program to improve access to digital technologies and services and the Small Business Entrepreneur Grants Program which matches funding to help newly established businesses access professional advice and support in the early stages.

Need support or advice? Contact the team at Flor-Hanly in Mackay on 07 4963 4800.

Source: Business Australia

4 easy ways to keep your data safe from cybercriminals

Cybercrime has become a profession and the demographic of your typical cybercriminal is changing rapidly, from bedroom-bound geek to the more organised, who use advanced techniques and are highly technically skilled.

According to the data provided by software company, VMware, 52% of all cyberattacks in March 2020 were finance-related. We outline simple actions you can take to secure your data and keep your business safe.

1. Phishing is an attempt to get information for malicious reasons.

The most common example is receiving an email with an enticing heading like you’ve won millions or a lost inheritance. Clicking on this seemingly harmless email and the links within it could land you in big trouble, for starters, the sender might ask you for more data than you should be sharing. We hear you saying “I’d never fall for that”, but cybercriminals are very clever and it’s hard to distinguish the real from the fake.

So what can you do? Always check the URL before you open anything and try to navigate using HTTPs. This means the data between your computer and the server is encrypted, but contrary to common belief it doesn’t guarantee that the server is trustworthy. Any hacker can create a server with HTTPs capabilities. So long story short, not using HTTPs is a red flag, but using it isn’t 100% bulletproof; the most important thing to do is to make sure we recognise the URLs before opening them

Another trick is to think about the information you are being asked for. For example, say you got a free subscription to a financial publication, but they ask for your passport number – that’s a red flag. Try to be mindful and ask yourself “do they really need this information?” especially if they are asking for it urgently.

If suspicious, double-check the source. If Xero is sending you an email, go and check if that’s the right email address from the Xero website or if any other website is sending you information, check that those are the right links. It’s as simple as Googling the company to see if that’s the first website that comes up there.

2. Account takeovers occur when cybercriminals find a way to log into your account.

They do malicious things like change account details, send out phishing emails pretending to be from you, steal financial information or sensitive data, or use any stolen information to access further accounts within your business.

These are more common than you think and cybercriminals have a variety of entry points when attempting to gain access to your personal information – they generally choose the simplest entry point. It can start with any piece of personal data that’s used when logging in, such as an email address, full name, date of birth, or city of residence, all of which can be found with minimal research.

Over 80% of web apps are using stolen or brute-forced credentials – so it’s a simple message – use a password manager to keep track of your passwords and always use strong, unique passwords combined with two-factor authentication.

3. Two-factor authentication (2SA) is a method of confirming your identity by using a combination of two different components.

Xero uses a username and password to sign in as the first factor and a one-time-valid, dynamic passcode, consisting of six digits as the second factor. The code is generated by a one-time-passcode-generator like Google Authenticator or Auty. The combination of two different factors to enter your account makes it exponentially harder for cybercriminals to gain access and steal your personal data or identity.

Enabling two-factor authentication on your accounts, deadbolts your data and prevents cybercriminals from accessing your information. We highly recommend enabling two-factor authentication on Xero, in addition to enabling it on your email account.

4. Anti-virus scanners and disaster recovery plans

Running an anti-virus scanner on your machines regularly is another great step you can take to help keep your systems secure. A step beyond that is having a disaster recovery plan (DRP) in place, in case things go wrong. That isn’t just about keeping computers and other hardware safe; it’s also about protecting your ability to provide customer service and keep your business running. When DRPs are properly designed and executed they enable the efficient recovery of critical systems and help your business avoid further damage to mission-critical operations. Benefits include minimal recovery time and possible delays, preventing potential legal liability, improving security, and avoiding potentially damaging last-minute decision making during a disaster.

Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility, a system is only as good as the weakest link in the chain.

Security needs to be strong on all fronts and it’s important that small businesses and their advisors are committed to protecting themselves and their customers from attacks.

As a business owner, it’s your responsibility to safeguard not only your own information but, more importantly, the sensitive data that your customers and employees have entrusted you with. By keeping informed about cybersecurity and instilling the importance of security practices throughout your business, together we can build a stronger, more secure online community.

Flor-Hanly Commercial and Agribusiness Accountants in Mackay QLD are Xero Platinum Certified Partners. Call us on 07 4963 4800 for any help with setting up or optimising how you use Xero on your farm or in your business.

Source: 4 easy ways to keep your data safe from cybercriminals | Xero Blog. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.xero.com/blog/2020/10/simple-approach-to-data-safety/

If your business is eligible to claim the instant asset write-off, you need to consider the car limit.

The car limit is the maximum depreciation expense you can claim for a car.

The car limit applies to the cost of some passenger vehicles. It applies to passenger vehicles designed to carry a load less than one tonne and fewer than nine passengers. It does not apply to motorcycles or similar vehicles, or to vehicles fitted out for use by people living with a disability.

The car limit is:

• $57,581 for the 2019–20 income tax year
• $59,136 for the 2020–21 income tax year.

Here are some tips to help you get it right:

• If the car limit applies to your vehicle, you can only claim a deduction for the business portion of the car limit.
• To use the instant asset write-off you must have used your vehicle, or had it delivered ready for use, between 12 March and 31 December 2020.

When calculating car depreciation amounts:

• If you're registered for GST and can claim the full GST credit, exclude the GST amount you paid on the car.
• If you're not registered for GST, include the GST amount you paid on the car.
• You can't claim the excess cost over the car limit under any other depreciation rules.

Remember, registered tax agents like Flor-Hanly can help you with your tax.

Flor-Hanly operates throughout Mackay, Clermont and Central Queensland. Our accounting team works with you to help you determine, focus on and achieve your personal and business goals. Call us on 07 4963 4800.

Source: Instant asset write-off and the car limit. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.ato.gov.au/Newsroom/smallbusiness/General/Instant-asset-write-off-and-the-car-limit

If you've received a cash flow boost, you may be wondering if the amounts you've received affect your income or deductions this tax time.

Here are the four essentials you need to know when lodging your tax return:

• You don't pay tax on cash flow boost amounts as they're non-assessable non-exempt income. You may still need to report the amounts in your tax return for other purposes. Read the relevant tax return instructions for your business structure for more information.
• You're still entitled to a deduction for the payments made to your workers provided you have complied with the pay as you go (PAYG) withholding and reporting obligations for that payment.
• If you pass the cash flow boost on to others, there may be tax consequences for the recipient.
• If you claim the research and development tax offset, your claim isn't affected by any cash flow boost you receive.

Remember, a registered tax agent like Flor-Hanly Accountants can help you with your tax.

Flor-Hanly operates throughout Mackay, Clermont and Central Queensland. Our accounting team works with you to help you determine, focus on and achieve your farm and business goals. Call us on 07 4963 4800.

Source: Know your boosts inside and out. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.ato.gov.au/Newsroom/smallbusiness/Employers/Know-your-boosts-inside-and-out/

Did you know that if your business is enrolled for the JobKeeper Payment, you may be able to claim payments for an eligible business participant?

An eligible business participant is an individual who is not an employee of your business, but who is actively engaged in its operation.

For example, they might manage the sale of your business’s goods or exercise control over your business strategy.

To be eligible for JobKeeper payments, the business participant must be an individual who is:

• a sole trader (and is not bankrupt)
• a director of a company
• a shareholder in a company
• a partner of a partnership (but not through an interposed entity, for example an individual trustee of a trust that is a partner in a partnership)
• an adult beneficiary of a trust (who is not the trustee).

The individual must also meet other criteria, including having been actively engaged in the business at 1 March 2020.

You can only nominate one eligible business participant, even if several people meet the criteria.

Unlike employees, the key date for assessing business participants' eligibility is still 1 March 2020.

As of 20 July 2020, approved providers of child care services can't claim JobKeeper payments for business participants.

The individual must be engaged in the fortnight that the JobKeeper payment is claimed. For instance, if your eligible business participant is on leave, you cannot claim JobKeeper payments for JobKeeper fortnights that fall in that time period.

Flor-Hanly operates throughout Mackay, Clermont and Central Queensland. Our accounting team works with you to help you determine, focus on and achieve your farm or business goals. Call us on 07 4963 4800.

Source: Who in your business is eligible for JobKeeper? (2020). Retrieved from https://www.ato.gov.au/Newsroom/smallbusiness/General/Who-in-your-business-is-eligible-for-JobKeeper-/