Month: August 2021

A top of the email reminder that your BAS payments are due today, Wednesday 25 August. Maybe go and do that before jumping into the next bit of the email – see you in a minute!

If your business makes payments to contractors or subcontractors you may need to lodge a Taxable payments annual report (TPAR) by 30 August.

The information collected by the ATO in the TPAR allows them to identify contractors who are not meeting their tax obligations. This prevents dishonest operators from gaining an unfair business advantage.

You need to know about TPAR if your business provides any of the following services, even if it’s just part of the services you provide each year:

• building and construction services
• cleaning services
• courier or road freight services
• information technology services
• security, investigation or surveillance services
• government entities

These categories are broad and some of your business activities might fall under the categories. We highly recommend asking us, or reading this page on the ATO website for more information.

The TPAR details payments made to contractors for providing services. Some government entities also need to report the grants they have paid. Contractors can include subcontractors, consultants and independent contractors. They can be operating as sole traders (individuals), companies, partnerships or trusts.

The details you need to report about each contractor are generally found on the invoice you should have received from them. This includes:

• their Australian business number (ABN), if known
• their name and address
• gross amount you paid to them for the financial year (including any GST)

Please be in touch if we can help you understand anything about TPARs.

Now that all of NSW is in lockdown, we thought we’d do a quick recap about the different emergency payments you and your employees might be eligible for.

You might be eligible for a $320 Test and Isolate support payment if:

• you need to test and isolate due to COVID symptoms
• you live in one of the LGAs of concern, such as Campbelltown
• you are unable to work because of your self-isolation

You can confirm your eligibility and apply on this page at Services NSW.

You might be eligible for a Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment if: 

• you have coronavirus (COVID-19)
• you’ve been in close contact with a person who has COVID-19
• you care for a child, 16 years or under, who has COVID-19 or who’s been in close contact with a person who has COVID-19
• you’re unable to go to work and earn an income
• you have no appropriate leave entitlements, including pandemic sick leave, personal leave or leave to care for another person

If you’re a member of a couple, you can both claim this payment. You and your partner will need to complete separate claims. You can confirm your eligibility and apply on this page at Services Australia.

You might be eligible for the COVID-19 Disaster Payment if:

• you live or work in any area of New South Wales
• you were unable to earn your usual income of 8 hours or more or a full day’s work because of the restricted movement order
• you meet any other eligibility rules

There is no liquid assets limit for this payment. There are, however, different eligibility requirements depending on whether you are in Greater Sydney or elsewhere in NSW, or whether you claim any payments from Services Australia. Please confirm your eligibility and apply on this page at Services Australia.Please also speak to your doctor about getting vaccinated. Sophie has been fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca since June, and Melissa and Graham both recently had their second dose of Pfizer. It doesn’t look like we will get this under control until we have more vaccinated people in the population!

We’re incredibly passionate about mental health at Book Us. Sophie and Graham have both struggled with depression, and have both reached out to their psychologists for support in the last eighteen months.

We wanted to use this week’s newsletter to emphasise just how important it is to look after your mental health, especially in these very difficult times.

Remember that it is completely normal to be struggling with productivity at the moment.

Remember that it is completely normal for your emotions to be heightened.

Remember that it is completely normal to be coping with this completely abnormal situation in whatever way works for you. (Though we hope for your sake that these are healthy ways!)

If you are feeling hopeless, please reach out to somebody. Go to your GP and ask for a Mental Health Care Plan and some recommendations for psychologists near you. The government now subsidise more sessions with a psychologist than ever before. Our daughter Emily recommends someone.health – you can speak with a psychologist from your living room!

If you have private health insurance, you likely have some psychology sessions available. Check what you are covered for with your insurer.

We also highly recommend Matt Haig’s new book The Comfort Book for a little reminder that we are living in incredibly strange times and that all of us are in it together (excuse the cliche).

And please feel free to reach out to us. We know how hard it is to concentrate on work when the world is throwing so many stressors at you. We are here to help. And if we can’t help with a particular problem, we will do our best to direct you to someone who can.

A more serious tone for this week’s post. We want to implore you to be on the lookout for scams.

Roughly 2.8 million Australians have been impacted by cyber crime in the past year and it’s only getting worse now that COVID has pushed everyone further online.

Every tax time, there are people who try to take advantage of you. This is often through emails which look like they come from MyGov or the ATO, linking you to a website just similar enough that you don’t notice. If you receive any emails from these government organisations, one way to ensure you are staying safe is to avoid clicking links and log in using a brand new web page.

Victims are rarely able to recover financial losses from cyber crime, so please be careful.

Scammers might also call your phone and create a sense of urgency by saying that your device has been compromised and that you must download certain software. If this happens to you, please do not be taken in. Report the attempted scam to the ACCC.

If you think the call is legitimate, tell them you will ring back. Independently source the organisation’s details and contact them. Do not click on any links.

Last year, the ATO was the most commonly impersonated government agency, with 96,220 scams reported to the Tax Office. Nearly 500 people lost a collective $2.4 million to such scams. If you are in doubt about any communication from the ATO, please do reach out to us.

If you’re waiting to hear from us about COVID-19 grants, please be assured that we are working on them. There are huge delays as Service NSW work through the many requests. We will let you know as soon as we know.