Registration of land holdings with RevenueSA

With the changes to land tax that come into effect from midnight 30 June 2020, RevenueSA is verifying the information they have for your land holdings in South Australia. The recent changes also introduced new requirements about what information you need to provide RevenueSA in relation to your land holdings.

RevenueSA has started this process by sending letters to corporate land holders regarding the information they require about land they have identified that the company has an interest in.   As per the letter, you are required to login to the ReveueSA Online portal to review and confirm your land holdings information that they have recorded is correct.  We understand that corporate land holders have been sent the letters either as a single land holder (including as a trustee company) or as the head of a group of related corporations.

We are able to assist you with this registration process if you would like us to.  Alternatively, you can work through the process yourself and let us know if you have any questions.  Please see below for further details.

If the company is a trustee company, additional information needs to be provided to RevenueSA.

Confirming this information will ensure RevenueSA calculates your land tax correctly for your next Notice of Land Tax Assessment.

Holman Hodge to register your land holdings

Following is the process if you would like Holman Hodge to register your landholdings:

Register your own land holdings

Trustee Company

Once you log into the RevenueSA Online portal you will be asked to do the following:

• Confirm your land holdings
• Advise RevenueSA of land that is held in trust (that is in your ownership as the trustee)
• Upload evidence of the trust and land ownership (see below)
• Nominate beneficiaries (if nominating – refer below)
• Confirm your contact details
• Advise preferred billing method (email or post)

Evidence of the land ownership in the trust

Sufficient supporting evidence is required to satisfy the Commissioner of State Taxation (the “Commissioner”) that the land was acquired on behalf of the Trust or otherwise vested in the Trust. Evidence needs to be provided for each property and must clearly state the trust name and either the property address or certificate of title reference.  This can be in the form of the following:

• a copy of the stamped Memorandum of Transfer document, showing that the consideration was paid by the Trust; or
• a copy of the completed and lodged Income Tax Return for the Trust, clearly showing the property as an asset of the Trust.

If neither of the above documents can be provided, the applicant will need to provide a minimum of two other types of evidence in order to satisfy the Commissioner.

The other types of evidence which may be considered include:

• a stamped Transfer document showing “with no survivorship” or “WNS”
• a copy of the Title showing “with no survivorship” or “WNS”
• a copy of the signed Minutes of Trust Meeting evidencing the purchase of the property on behalf of the Trust
• a copy of the Balance Sheet of the Trust showing the property as an asset of the Trust
• a copy of the Settlement Statement showing the purchaser as trustee for the Trust
• a copy of the signed Contract of Sale showing the purchaser as trustee for the Trust

Evidence of the trust

Where it is stated that the land holding is held in a trust, you must also attach, for each trust:

• a copy of the original executed Deed of Trust in its entirety; and
• a copy of each Deed of Variation, where there have been variations or amendments made to the original Deed of Trust since its execution

Nominating beneficiaries

There is the ability to nominate beneficiaries of the trust.  You have until 30 June 2021 to nominate a beneficiary of the trust so our advice at this point in time is to NOT nominate as yet unless the property is owned in a trust and is your principal place of residence.

For corporate land holders

For corporations, the registration process is much simpler.

Please note however, if you are the nominated group head (as per the letter you received), you can also:

• Nominate a different corporation to complete the review of the corporate group.
• Confirm that all related corporations have been included in the corporate group.
• Add any related corporations that have not been included.
• Advise where we have included corporations incorrectly.

It is important that all related companies are included and all land holdings are detailed in the registration process.

If you would like to discuss this further, please contact your Holman Hodge adviser.

Payment & Enrolment Reminder

This is a reminder if you have already enrolled (or are planning to enrol) for the JobKeeper program from the start date of 30 March 2020.

There are some critical actions and dates that you need to be aware of to ensure your eligibility:

• By FRIDAY 8 MAY you must have paid all eligible employees a minimum of $1,500 for the first two JobKeeper fortnights ($3,000 in total)
• By SUNDAY 10 MAY you must have paid all eligible employees a minimum of $1,500 for JobKeeper fortnight 3 which ends on Sunday 10 May (as Friday 8 May is the last working day of the fortnight, you should aim for payment by then)
• By 31 May you must have enrolled for the JobKeeper program

If you are claiming the JobKeeper payment as an eligible business participant, the rules are slightly different.  You are not required to make a payment. However, you still must enrol for the program by 31 May 2020.

Going forward, you will need to ensure that you pay eligible employees a minimum of $1,500 per JobKeeper fortnight.

Business monthly declaration

You will not be eligible to receive the JobKeeper payments from the Government until you have enrolled and lodged your business monthly declaration with the ATO.

The declaration is available through the Business Portal or the ATO Portal and requires you to:

• Provide the business’ current turnover (for the month just ended)
• Provide the business’ expected turnover for the coming month
• Reconfirm eligible employees
• Reconfirm contact and banking details

The business declaration can now be made for the month of April.  Once this is done, you will be eligible to start receiving payments.  The Government has said the payments to businesses will start in the first week in May.

If you have any questions in relation to the above please contact your Holman Hodge adviser.

JobKeeper – Extension of time to enrol and other important updates

In the last week there has been a number of announcements and changes that have come through from both the Federal and State Government in relation to various stimulus packages.  These include clarifications to the JobKeeper payment, further useful ATO information and some South Australian Land Tax relief and grant updates.

JobKeeper program

There have been a number of technical issues highlighted with regards to the JobKeeper program and last week we received the following clarification from the ATO and Treasury.

JobKeeper – extension of time to enrol

The ATO has announced that businesses have until 31 May to enrol for the JobKeeper program.

The ATO website states that:

“If you enroll by 1 May you will still be able to claim for the fortnights in April and May, provided you meet all the eligibility requirements for each of those fortnights.  This includes having paid your employees by the appropriate date each fortnight.

For the first two fortnights (30 March – 12 April, 13 April -26 April), we will accept the minimum $1,500 payment for each fortnight has been paid by you even if it has been paid late, provided it is paid by you by the end of April”

It is imperative that if you want to claim the JobKeeper payment for employees from the commencement of the scheme, you must have made the minimum payment of $1,500 per fortnight by Thursday 30 April 2020.  You then need to ensure that you continue to make fortnightly payments throughout May to be eligible for the JobKeeper payment even if you don’t enroll until 31 May.

JobKeeper program – the alternative tests

To determine whether an entity has a decline in turnover of at least 30%, the rules provide a “basic” test and an “alternative” test to apply.  The alternative test however, had to be determined by the Commissioner of Taxation via a Legislative Instrument.  That instrument was finally released on Thursday afternoon.  It provides seven scenarios where an alternative test may be applied.

This means entities can now consider the basic test, and where that isn’t applicable due to an inappropriate comparison period, they can now consider if they fit into one of the seven situations where an alternative test might be appropriate.

JobKeeper – services entities and Treasury update

A technical issue with regards to service entities was raised almost immediately when the original JobKeeper rules were released.  A media release was issued on Friday evening which provides some comments with regards to the JobKeeper program and how the rules will apply to service entities which we have summarised.

Please click here for further information on both of these announcements.

ATO JobKeeper frequently asked questions

The ATO has a dedicated JobKeeper website which can be accessed here.  There is a lot of useful information the website including a frequently asked questions section which is continually being updated by the ATO based on the questions they are being asked via their online communities and the helpline.

Cash flow boost stimulus payments & JobKeeper payments

As a result of the stimulus measures announced over the last month or so, many businesses will start receiving payments from the Federal or State Government.  It is important that these payments are accounted for correctly.  Please go here to see a summary of the accounting treatment for stimulus payments.

South Australian announcements

SA Land Tax relief package announced

The SA Government has recently announced a Land Tax Relief Package for South Australian landlords.  Click here for the RevenueSA website which provides further details on the land tax changes announced.  These changes are designed to provide support to landlords who are providing support to tenants impacted by COVID-19.

SA $10,000 cash emergency grants – applications now open

Eligible South Australian businesses are now able to apply for the SA $10,000 emergency cash grants is now open.  Please find the application link here which also includes the eligibility criteria.

If you have any questions in relation to the above please contact your Holman Hodge adviser.