Updated 4 May 2020

The Federal Government has announced a range of incentives to assist businesses to withstand and recover from the impact of COVID-19 and boost the economy.

In addition to the legislative changes, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) also announced a series of administrative concessions to assist businesses impacted by COVID-19, which include:

• automatic deferral of lodgement and payment of 2018-19 company tax returns that were originally due on 15 May 2020 until 5 June 2020
• automatic deferral of lodgement and payment of 2018-19 self-managed superannuation fund tax returns, that were originally due on 15 May 2020 and 5 June 2020, until 30 June 2020
• automatic deferral of lodgement and payment of fringe benefits tax (FBT) annual returns for self-preparers and tax agent paper lodgers, that were originally due for lodgement on 21 May 2020 and payment on 28 May 2020, until 25 June 2020
• deferring by up to six months the payment of tax amounts due through the BAS (including PAYG instalments), income tax assessments, FBT assessments and excise by affected businesses
• allowing affected businesses on a quarterly reporting cycle to opt into monthly GST reporting to get quicker access to any GST refunds
• allowing affected businesses to vary PAYG instalment amounts to zero for the March 2020 quarter. Businesses that vary their PAYG instalment to zero can also claim a refund for any instalments made for the September 2019 and December 2019 quarters
• remitting any interest and penalties, incurred by affected businesses on or after 23 January 2020, that have been applied to tax liabilities
• allowing affected businesses to enter into low-interest payment plans for their existing and ongoing tax liabilities.

With the exception of the automatic lodgement and payment deferrals listed in the first three points above, the other ATO assistance is not automatic; taxpayers must first contact the ATO to request assistance, and if eligible, the ATO will ‘tailor the assistance package for the relevant taxpayer’.

Get in touch

For support in determining whether you are eligible for the cash payment incentives and in completing an application please reach out to one of our ShineWing Australia experts below.

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