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South Australia - 2021 Covid Support

accountant advice covid-19 support Jul 28, 2021

Covid-19 and all these lockdowns are exhausting, we know. While we are super grateful we can work from home and look after you, we understand that for many of you work has been cancelled. The arts, tourism and hospitality seem to be hit the worst, and over and over. Most of our clients are small businesses in the arts, so we know and appreciate your businesses, and we are happy to help you navigate the tricky land that is covid support funding.

Please note:

This is written 27 July 2021 and may be subject to change.
Always double check on Government official websites, or by emailing your accountant.
The information here is not exhaustive. It is written with the majority of our clients in mind. Some of it will not apply to you, and there may be other grants available to you than what is in the below, depending on your unique circumstances.

We have outlined some of the key elements of the important grants, in SA, VIC and NSW. At the bottom of this we remind you how to calculate the decline in turnover and what turnover actually is.

Not your state? Check out these other blogs:

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

There are two options available for individuals, depending on whether you have been self-isolating due to being in a hot spot, or if you have simply lost work due to the lockdown period. There are also two grants available for small businesses, depending on whether you employ staff or not (other eligibility criteria applies).

The good news? If you have a business with a decline of 30%, but that usually has an annual turnover of $75k+ then the support is decent ($1,000). It is even better ($3,000) if you employ people.

The disappointing news? If you are a sole trader or small business with less than $75k turnover, even if you have a drop, the most you can access is $600 at this stage.

Individuals

‘Covid-19 disaster payments’

Applications open 28 July 2021
How to claim: Through MyGov
More info here: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/covid-19-disaster-payment-south-australia/how-claim

$375 for people who lost between 8 to 20 hours per week
$600 for people who lost 20+ hours per week
Eligibility:

Australian resident, or hold a visa allowing you to work in Australia
17 years old or above
Not claiming/receiving other financial support (like the ‘pandemic relief payments’)
Not receiving income support (partner pay, parental leave pay etc.)
Lost income, and don’t have the appropriate level of leave entitlements
You meet the liquid assets rule for your event

‘Cluster isolation payment’

$300 payment (single payment)
Part of a cluster, and have had to self-isolate
Eligibility:

Have visited a declared exposure site
Have undertaken a covid-19 test
Are required to self-isolate
Have been scheduled to work during the period of the self-isolation
Have no access to paid or other income support
Australian resident, or hold a visa allowing you to work in Australia
17 years old or above

Online application form here.
Call for assistance: 8226 2500 or email here: [email protected]

Businesses

There are 2 grants available for small businesses.

Applications open 28 July 2021
How to apply: Info will be available on the Treasury website, and you can email them here: [email protected]
Lockdown began 20 July 2021

Lockdown week = 21-27 July 2021
Pre-lockdown week = 13-20 July 2021

$1,000 grant for sole traders who don’t employ staff
Eligibility:
- Have a payroll of under $10 million in 2019-2020 FY

Be located in South Australia
Have an annual turnover of $75,000 or more*
Employ people in South Australia
Have a valid ABN
Experienced at least a 30% reduction in turnover compared to the week prior

$3,000 grant for other small businesses if they meet the eligibility criteria
Eligibility:
- Have a payroll of under $10 million in 2019-2020 FY

Be located in South Australia
Have an annual turnover of $75,000 or more*
Employ people in South Australia
Have a valid ABN
Experienced at least a 30% reduction in turnover compared to the week prior

If you do not meet the small business covid grant eligibility criteria, consider the individual covid relief support above.

*a turnover of more than $75k means your business should be registered for GST!

Turnover Decline and Supporting Docs

Businesses do not need to provide documentation at the time of applying but they do need to keep their calculations and information for 12 months in case of audit or compliance processing. Examples of documentation to keep:

Turnover comparison data for the week prior to the assessment period
Emails and texts to/from clients or suppliers detailing cancelled orders and appointments
Receipts for refunds provided
Invoices or delivery dockets
Appointment/scheduling platform, showing cancellations
Screenshots of cancelled events

TURNOVER

Turnover is like INCOME - not profit, which is income minus expenses. Technically speaking, the JobKeeper rules state that an entity satisfies the 'decline in turnover' test at test time if:

"(a) the entity’s projected GST turnover for a turnover test period in which the test time occurs falls short of the entity’s current GST turnover for a relevant comparison period..." (Rule 8(1)(a))

So... what is projected GST turnover?

"Projected GST turnover has the meaning given by the GST Act" (per the definitions section of the super boring Act I had to read for you guys).

Cool, that doesn't really help...

The GST Act defines in s188.20:

"Projected GST Turnover: Your projected GST turnover at a time during a particular month is the sum of the values of all the supplies that you have made..."

FYI we're going to refer to this as 'turnover' from here on because the GST and 'projected' bits are confusing the matter, in my opinion.

Now, this all sounds like it is talking about BAS stuff, right!?

Nope. Surprise.

GST Turnover is not actually BAS turnover - It's turnover as defined in the GST Act.

So, what does this actually mean?

Income for the period, compared to income for the other period
You can use cash or accrual accounting of that income

The ATO have said that technically accruals is the correct method, but if you use the cash method on your BAS (or for your tax return I imagine) then you can use cash for this calculation too.

Projected GST turnover and current GST turnover excludes the following:

GST you included in sales to your customers (if any)
sales that are input taxed sales (e.g. bank interest, sale of shares, residential rental income)
sales not connected with an enterprise that you carry on (e.g. sale of private car)
sales that are not made for payment (unless a taxable supply to an associate)
payments for no supply (e.g. JobKeeper payments)
gifts and donations (except for deductible gift recipients and ACNC-registered charities as discussed above)
sales not connected with Australia, for example: