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Accountants in NSW are anxiously waiting on eligibility details for the new business support package to land, with the peak accounting bodies expecting an accountant’s certification letter to come into play.
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Accountants champing at the bit to unlock NSW support payments
15 July 2021
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The new measures, announced on Tuesday, will see small and medium businesses in NSW receive 40 per cent of their payroll payments, at a minimum of $1,500 and a maximum of $10,000 per week, as long as they maintain their full-time, part-time and long-term casual staffing level as of 13 July.
Non-employing businesses, such as sole traders, can expect $1,000 payments each week.
In announcing the new support, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was modelled on the cash flow boost that was introduced at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, which saw $35.5 billion paid out to over 800,000 businesses.
However, unlike the cash flow boost, the new measure will be administered by Service NSW, instead of the ATO, and it remains to be seen how eligibility and payments will be managed.
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand tax leader Michael Croker said that while accountants were ready to swing into action, further information was required to understand the differences between last year’s measure and the new payments.
“The calculation of turnover and measuring its decline in line with the relevant legislation were key issues when determining eligibility for federal government stimulus measures last year,” Mr Croker said.
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“The latest cash boost is linked to an employee retention obligation, but there is no apparent reliance on the Single Touch Payroll information held by the ATO for verification purposes, raising questions about data sharing between governments.
“The cash boost has also been de-coupled from the ATO business activity statement reporting framework which underpinned the 2020 stimulus measures.”
CPA Australia’s senior manager of business and investment policy, Gavan Ord, who has been engaging closely with the NSW government, believes an accountant’s letter might factor into the eligibility criteria, particularly with the expanded business grants of up to $15,000.
“We expect that applicants for the $15,000 payment will be required to include a letter from an independent accountant showing their decline in turnover calculation,” Mr Ord told Accountants Daily.
“Such accountants’ letters may also be required for other grant amounts; however, these details are still being nutted out by the NSW government.”
While businesses have been able to register their interest with Service NSW since Wednesday, Mr Croker believes it is imperative that further details are released as soon as possible to allow accountants and their clients to make the right business decisions.
“Accountants are keen to access detailed information so they can begin identifying those businesses that may be eligible and understand the nature of any certification they must provide,” said Mr Croker.
“Small business operators now need to ask themselves whether the boost is enough to coax them to retain staff.
“Wages are but one cost of doing business, with access to commercial rent relief and leniency from financiers and creditors including ATO debt collectors also crucial to their business decision-making.”
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