Well spring is in the air. We can tell because the sheep are baa-ing and the donkeys are ee-awing. I hope I spelt that right – I’m not really fluent in sheep or donkey. It’s a work on. And what noise does an alpaca make?
In this newsletter we discuss:
- Christmas celebrations
- Changes to the business finance guarantee scheme
- Changes to Trust Law
- Working For Families
- Changes to invoicing
- And of course – we throw in some not to be missed dad jokes
Read on.
Orphan’s Christmas
We are a large group of little operators (organization size that is – we don’t discriminate against big people). And it has been a tough year for most.
You may not have enough resource or enough people in the team to put on a big shin dig. So we thought why not throw it out there and see who would be interested in a Christmas party organized by Number Up. We feel like it would be a great way to support some local operators and celebrate together in a Level 1 kind of way.
Unfortunately we haven’t made the Forbes rich list yet so we would need to ask for a contribution. We are thinking $50-$100 per person. If you are interested can you please email hello@numberup.nz with numbers attending by 15 October 2020. We’ll come back with details.
Working For Families
She’s tough times out there at the moment for a lot of families. You should make sure you are receiving all that you are entitled to in the way of family support. Did you know that there are 6 types of support you may be eligible for if you have a family? There’s got to be some benefit to having a bunch of rug rats running rampant through the house!
IRD administer:
- Best start payment
- Family tax credit
- In work tax credit
- Minimum family tax credit
Work and Income (WINZ) administer:
- Accommodation supplement
- Childcare subsidy
Please click here to find out more about working for families and what your entitlements might be.
If you are self employed we generally advise to apply for your entitlement at the end of each financial year as a lump sum payment. That’s because you are paid based on what you had earned in the previous year. If your income increases in the current year you may be required to pay back some of the support plus interest and penalties! However – if you are finding it tough this year, it may be worth contacting IRD and WINZ to have a weekly payment assessed.
Talk to us if you are unsure about your entitlement.
Changes to the Business Finance Guarantee Scheme
Did you know that the Government recently announced changes to the business finance guarantee scheme? It means that more businesses may be eligible for the scheme whereby the government takes on the default risk of up to 80% of the loan. Changes to the scheme mean the loans can now be used for capital purchases and projects in response to or recovery from COVID-19.
Please click here for more information
Changes To Trust Law
Changes to Trust legislation have been made, with provisions of the new Trusts Act 2019 coming into effect on 30 January 2021. Do you operate a Trust? Do you know how this will impact you?
Our friend Clark Pirie from MacTodd is happy to discuss how changes to Trust legislation will affect you and your responsibilities. Give him a call on 03 441 0221 or visit mactodd.co.nz
Changes to invoicing
As George Bernard Shaw said, “Progress is impossible without change”.
We are making a few changes at Number Up which you will start seeing over the next while. There’s some exciting stuff coming up.
Invoicing isn’t exciting chat but we just want to keep you informed. Our goal is to have all our clients on monthly billing by the start of the new tax year. The idea is to spread the load for you so you are not paying one large bill at the end of the tax year, and it smooths out our cashflow.
If you are not already on a monthly plan, we will be in touch with you regarding this over the next few months.
Just for fun
And now for that moment you have been waiting for. You know you want it. Here we go – some of the best jokes you’ll find in an accountant’s newsletter anywhere:
Q. What do you do if a cat swallows your pencil??
A. Use your pen instead.
Q. Did you hear about the dead canary that was for sale?
A. He wasn’t going cheap.
Strong finish eh? Until next time …….. stay safe.
