In this month's edition of Business Matters, we take a close look at how the ATO can help if you can't afford to pay your tax obligations immediately, changes to the expense claims for business vehicles and how Covid-19 may affect this years tax return. We also look at options for free marketing for your business and the critical steps you should take before setting up a business partnership.

We have some exciting news to share – we are now able to take payments via debit and credit cards.We have partnered with B2Bpay, a secure online payment portal that will allow you to pay your invoice with us using your debit or credit card.Our new payment portal allows you to pay us using the following cards: Visa/Master Card, Visa/Master Business & Premium Card, American Express and other International cards.

Updated: 6th May 2020. Under the JobKeeper Payment, businesses or not-for-profits impacted by the Coronavirus will be able to access a subsidy from the Government to continue paying their employees. Affected employers will be able to claim a payment of $1,500 per fortnight per eligible employee from 30 March 2020 until 27 September 2020.

Updated: 6th May 2020. Under the JobKeeper Payment, businesses and not-for-profits impacted by the Coronavirus will be able to access a wage subsidy from the Government to continue paying their employees. Affected employers will be able to claim a payment of $1,500 per fortnight per eligible employee from 30 March 2020 until 27 September 2020.

Updated: 6th May 2020. The JobKeeper Payment is a payment made to eligible businesses and not-for-profits affected by the Coronavirus to support them in retaining employees. Eligible businesses that elect to participate will receive a payment of $1,500 per fortnight per eligible employee to support the people they employed as at 1 March 2020 who are retained in employment. Businesses must have paid their employees before they are entitled to receive the JobKeeper payment. Where an employee’s total remuneration is less than $1,500 per fortnight (before tax), or has been stood down, the employer must provide the employee at least $1,500 per fortnight (before tax). Where an employee earns more than $1,500 per fortnight, employers can use the payment to subsidise the employee’s wages. 

Updated 6th May 2020. The JobKeeper Payment and the related programs represent a significant investment to support the Australian economy and people in the face of the Coronavirus crisis. To protect this investment, the framework for the JobKeeper Payment has robust features to ensure integrity and allow swift and effective action to be taken against fraud and other abuse.