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Carry-forward contributions provide flexibility for effective retirement planning, especially for those with unconventional work histories. By utilizing unused caps, you can optimize your contributions while minimizing tax implications.

Treasury have released updated fact sheets regarding eligibility and the payment of the job keeper payment. Some issues have been clarified around the claiming of the job keeper payment by self-employed. Where family members operate a business through a company, trust or partnership, only one person can be nominated as the eligible employee for job keeper payment. Similarly, a self-employed person cannot be eligible for job keeper payment is they have a permanent job elsewhere (they can be eligible as an employee of the other business). More details are available in the fact sheet for employers, fact sheet for employees, and frequently asked questions.

Aftering registering your intent to claim the JobKeeper Payment, the next step is to have all eligible employees sign a JobKeeper Employee Nomination Notice. An employer will not be able to apply for JobKeeper payment without a signed nomination from each eligible employee. The notice is available from the ATO website or from here. Business will be able to apply for the JobKeeper payment from 20 April, by following the steps on the ATO website here.

The Government has released a rent relief package for commercial tenants and landlords. "The mandatory code will apply to tenancies where the tenant or landlord is eligible for the JobKeeper program. So that defines a a tenant or landlord who would be in a position of distress, where they have a turnover of 50 million or less.     

The Job Keeper payment is a life line to business that will enable business owners to retain employees during the Covid-19 restrictions. Workers that have been stood down or retrenched since 1 March can be brought back on the books and paid a minimum of $1,500 per fortnight from 30 March 2020. Employers will be re-imbursed this amount monthly, in arrears, commencing in May. See more details at JobKeeper Payment - Information for employees. See also JobKeeper Payment - Information for employers Self employed can also apply for job keeper regardless of whether you trade in a trust, company or as a sole trader; if the business turnover has reduced by 30% you are eligible. Business Owners can register for the JobKeeper payment at www.ato.gov.au

There was a lot of talk about superannuation in the lead up to the election, but, thankfully there will be no changes to the rules regarding superannuation. This is great news because there are some great opportunities to reduce your tax burden and boost your super balances!

If you're a small business owner, here are a few ideas to reduce your tax burden and clean up those books before 1 July 2019. Consider deferring some income. Your sales are counted as taxable income from the date you produce an invoice; not when you receive the payment. If you can delay producing an invoice till after 30 June, it wont become taxable income till next year. Can you prepay some expenses? You can prepay expenses like rent, travel, supplies before 30 June and claim the deduction in the current year. Check your accounts receivable/debtors. If there are any debtors that are becoming doubtful, write them off. No point in including them in your sales for the year if they are not going to pay. You can always add them back next year if they do make payment. Pay your employee's super before 30 June, otherwise you can't claim the deduction till next year. Same with any employee bonus you pay. If you have stock/inventory, do a stock take and write off any old/damaged stock. The lower your inventory level, the lower your profit. Consider whether you need any plant and equipment, or vehicles, in the next couple of months. Any purchases less than $30k are eligible for an immediate write off, so bring the purchase forward to before 30 June and claim the write off now.

The new downsizer contribution allows older Australians to top up their superannuation accounts when they sell the family home. People aged over 65 can unlock the equity in their home and, by adding to their superannuation balances, access a greater tax-free pension to improve their lifestyle in retirement. You must be aged 65 years or older, have owned your home for at least 10 years, and the home must have been your residence for at least part of the time. You and your partner can contribute up to $300,000 each from the proceeds of the sale of the property. A downsizer contribution can be a great strategy to unlock the wealth in the family home and increase your tax-free pension from super, but we also need to keep in mind the effect this may have on your Centrelink benefits. This is because the family home is an exempt benefit for Centrelink purposes, but your super account balance is not. Give us a call for a free consultation to see if the downsizer contribution is right for you.