Hello and welcome to your August newsletter from all of us here at Bee Group Accountants.
A big thank you to everyone who responded to our last newsletter and have let us know your preferred schedule for the completion of your 2022 Annual Accounts. For those who chose August, you will be receiving correspondence shortly that will detail out the information that we will need to get started.
Tax Lodgements for 2022 Can Now Be Lodged
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has confirmed that their collection of data for prefill forms is now complete and lodgements for the 2022 financial year can now go ahead. As your registered accountant, we have access to this information so there is no need to send it through to us. We will automatically download it when we attend to your accounts.
If you are an employer are yet to complete your STP finalisation, please be sure that you do this as soon as possible. If you need a hand, please just let us know.
2 New Queensland Government Grants
The Queensland Government is using taxpayer money to fund 2 new Business Grants. These are called Business Boost and Business Basics.
Both now require registration of interest before they open to application.
There are eligibility requirements. For the Business Boost Grant, small businesses need to employ less than 20 employees and have had a turnover between $300,000 and $600,000 in the last financial year.
Click on the links above to go straight to the Queensland Government site for further information.
Upcoming Dates for August
12 – Register interest in Queensland Government Business Boost Grant
21 – The July Monthly BAS (or monthly PAYG Withholding) lodgements are due
25 – The June Quarterly BAS lodgements are due
28 – If you didn’t pay your June Quarter Superannuation on time, then you will need to lodge your Superannuation Guarantee Charge Statement
28 – If required, lodge your TPAR Report by this date
31 – Queensland Workcover Declarations are due
Taxable Payments Annual Reports (TPAR)
Taxable Payments Annual Reports (TPAR) for the 2022 financial year will be due by the 28 August 2022. This year the ATO have extended the industries that now need to report.
You may need to lodge a TPAR report for payments made to contractors or subcontractors for services. If you are providing services in the following industries then you will likely need to lodge a TPAR report:
- building and constructions services
- cleaning services
- courier or road freight services
- information technology (IT) services
- security, investigation or surveillance services.
Even if you only partially provide services in these industries you still may need to lodge. The ATO uses either a 10% threshold, or a 50% threshold if you are primarily in building and construction, of your business income to identify whether you need to lodge or not. This is still (for the moment) self-assessed so if you do your own calculation, just be sure to keep records of how you worked out the percentage.
Most commercially available software products have simplified just how you can go about identifying payments and then both preparing and lodging the report. Your work lies in identifying those contractors for who you need to report.
If you are unsure if you need to lodge a TPAR, please reply to this email and we can check the ATO portal to confirm.
Note: We have been noticing that the ATO is automatically adding these obligations to some taxpayers, even if they are not in the prescribed industries. When we prepare your returns, this is something that we will check, but if you receive correspondence in the meantime and you do not think that you should be lodging, please let us know so that we can prepare a declaration for you.
Minimum Drawdown Rates Reduced for New Financial Year
As we have entered a new financial year, members who receive super pensions or annuities should consider the payments you are likely to need this financial year.
The super minimum drawdown requirements remain reduced by 50% for 2022–23 income year. This means the minimum annual payment you need to make to your members’ account-based pensions and annuities, allocated pensions and annuities and market-linked pensions and annuities has been reduced by 50%.
As a trustee of a self-managed super fund, you must ensure the minimum drawdown rate is paid. You can always withdraw more, but never less.
In around April we normally check our funds that are in pension phase to see where you are standing on your minimum draw down. This is to ensure that you are meeting the minimum standards and get to continue with the tax free pension phase.
Don’t Forget
Superannuation Guarantee Changes
The Superannuation Guarantee Charge rate increased on 1 July 2022 and now requires payment of 10.5% of an employees ordinary times earnings.
Most commercially available software will update this rate automatically as long as you have it set up correctly. There are big penalties if you do not lodge and pay this on time and if you pay overtime, you might end up paying more.
Fair Work Increases
The Fair Work Commission bureaucrats increased the minimum wage rate from 1 July 2022. If you haven’t done so already please be sure to check your award and confirm the dates that might apply for the commencement dates.
This link is to the Fair Work site on how to get ready for the changes and there are number of other links on this page about how to Find your Award and their Pay and Conditions Tool: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/newsroom/news/get-set-for-a-minimum-wage-increase
As always, if you self-assess your obligations, keep great records, take screen shots or print to PDF any of the documentation that comes out.
Director ID
You must register for your Directors ID number. The date for this is fast approaching and it can be a little difficult to link the required roles to your MyGovID in order to make the application. To make sure that you have enough time to do this you should start soon.
The process itself is very quick once you have all of the information. This number is not sent out to you by post or other form of notification so when you get the details at the end of the application can you please let us know so that we can add it to your profile for when your company renews.
To apply, visit this link: https://www.abrs.gov.au/director-identification-number/apply-director-identification-number
Karbon
Karbon is the practice management software that we use here to manage our jobs, tasks and correspondence with you.
The existing Client Portal we use to request information from you has undergone an upgrade. This means that there are some changes that you might need to be aware of.
These updates will roll out in early August and will make it easier for you to securely access and respond to information requests and to supply documents or other information.
Here’s a few of the things that we think you should know for when the new Client Portal is live:
- Existing tasks already sent to you prior to this new functionality going live, can only be accessed through the PIN in the email they were originally sent from
- Any new tasks and requests sent to you will be accessible via a magic link included in the email. This is a more secure and convenient way to access your portal.
- You will now have access to a new Client Portal, which includes all open requests from across work items AND completed requests (history). You will see up to 100 open and the last 100 closed requests, including existing tasks.
If you want to know even more about how this works, then here is a link to the Karbon easy guide on how to use the new portal.
We will be learning about this at the same time as you so If you have any questions, please check first with the Karbon FAQs.
Telephone Update
We are still in the process of porting our phone numbers so if you need to contact our office, please continue to call the main line on (07) 5501 5765. Feel free to email us as well.
As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions or queries. We look forward to hearing from you.
Have a great day!
Sheree
