November 2021 Newsletter

Contents:

Director identification numbers needed soon

The purpose of introducing DINs is to prevent the use of fictitious director identities, assist regulators trace directors’ relationships with companies and better identify directors involved in unlawful activity, such as illegal ‘phoenix’ activity. Each director will have their own unique DIN that they will keep for the remainder of their life. A director can only have one DIN that they must use for all companies.

Underpayments impacting 1 in 2 Aussie workers

Over 50 per cent of employees have been underpaid or paid late by their employer since COVID-19 hit Australian shores, according to a new survey.
According to ADP’s People at Work 2021: A Global Workforce View, one in two workers – 52 per cent – believe they have been underpaid at least once since the pandemic was declared.

A similar percentage indicated a belief that they had been paid late at least once over the same period of time.

 

Business valuations: Tips, tricks and traps

Business valuation is often described as a dark art. Indeed, get three different valuers to value the same asset and you will likely end up with three very different results. But this doesn’t need to be the case.
Done properly, business valuation uses detailed financial and risk analysis to determine the appropriate valuation for a business. At its core, it’s about determining two key things, the same things needed to value any type of asset: return and risk.

 

Over 50,000 Australians sign up for government home buyer schemes

The federal government has provided an update on its Home Guarantee Scheme for first home buyers and single parents.
Since the start of 2020, 52,888 Australians have purchased a home or reserved a place under the federal government’s Home Guarantee Scheme.

The scheme, which includes the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme and New Home Guarantee for first home buyers as well as the Family Home Guarantee for single parents, has seen the number of first home owners reach their highest levels in almost 15 years, according to Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Housing Michael Sukkar.

 

Australia’s best and worst-performing super funds

Australians could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars by being a member of a poor-performing fund.
A new report has found that Australians who are members of the worst-performing super funds could lose a quarter of their balance by retirement.
In its latest Fat Cat Funds Report, Stockspot identified what it described as “Fat Cat Funds” by looking at the bottom 10 super funds within a particular risk group such as balanced or growth.

 

Can you protect an elderly parents’ superannuation benefits?

A common estate planning question we receive is about the protection of elderly parents’ superannuation benefits, and specifically when one of them passes away.
Consider the situation. Dad passed away. Someone suddenly starts befriending Mum. The children are concerned – is there an ulterior motive to this unlikely befriending? Whether or not the friend is younger, or of the same or opposite sex is irrelevant.

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Stapled Super: change that affects Employers

For those that didn’t see the article last month there has been a subtle but important change regarding how employers pay super to new employees if the employee does not supply their superannuation details.

 

From 1 November 2021, if you have new employees start and they don’t choose a super fund, you may need to request their ‘stapled super fund’ details from the ATO. The employee’s ‘stapled super fund’ details would be any previous super fund information that the ATO has on file for that employee. If no such details exist you can then go ahead and setup super for the employee via your default fund e.g. Prime Super, Australian Super, Hesta Super etc.

 

For more details:

https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Super-for-employers/Setting-up-super-for-your-business/Offer-employees-a-choice-of-super-fund/Request-stapled-super-fund-details-for-employees/

 

Vic: Phasing out of COVID disaster payment

The Federal Government has announced the phasing out of the COVID-19 Disaster Payment for Victoria as it reaches the 70% vaccination rate. The payment will remain available at the same rate to people who still cannot work due to restrictions until Victoria reaches 80% full vaccination. However, it will no longer be paid automatically. People will need to apply each week to ensure they remain eligible. Once the 80% milestone is reached, the payment will decrease over a two-week period for those on the full COVID-19 Disaster Payment, and over one week for those on income support receiving the $200 COVID-19 Disaster Payment. It will then cease as more people are expected to return to the workforce.

 

ATO reminder re Jobmaker Hiring Credit payments

The ATO has issued a reminder for business that the JobMaker Hiring Credit payments can be claimed by 31 October 2021 for additional eligible employees hired between 7 April 2021 and 6 July 2021. It further advises that eligible businesses can claim the JobMaker Hiring Credit for up to a year for each additional eligible employee hired between 7 October 2020 and 6 October 2021. For further details see here.

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Announcements:

There were no staff birthdays or anniversaries in November!

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Important ATO Dates

Office Closure

Please note the following:

Knights Accounting office will be closed 

• Friday 29th October
• Monday 1st November
• Tuesday 2nd November (Public Holiday)

Watts Price Accountants office will be closed

• Monday 1st November
• Tuesday 2nd November (Public Holiday)

We apologise for any inconvenience!

Appointment Procedures Due to COVID

Both our offices are now open again!

There is currently a restriction on the number of people allowed in offices across Victoria, it’s either 25% of your normal capacity or 10 whichever is the larger. This means that we restricted to no more than 10 people in the building until restrictions further ease. We believe that from this Friday 6pm, these limits are removed and replaced by density limits of 1 person per 4 square meters which effectively means we are back to close to normal operations from Wednesday 3rd November! 

Please note:

• we are able to provide phone and video appointments via Zoom.
• Those coming into the office are required to
  • wear a mask
  • QR code
  • will soon need to show proof of vaccination
  • if you are feeling unwell we ask that you phone to make other arrangements

If you have any queries we can be contacted via:

Watts Price Accountants P: 03 5382 3001 E: mail@wattsprice.com.au M: PO Box 118, Horsham VIC 3402

Knights Accounting P: 03 5385 5330 E: info@knightsaccounting.com.au M: 16 Cromie Street, Rupanyup VIC 3388

Note: Both offices are equipped with mail slots so you can drop off paperwork at anytime.

All the best from the Watts Price Team!