If you have a tax debt and enter bankruptcy, during bankruptcy any tax refunds will be kept by the ATO and set-off against your tax debt.

After discharge from bankruptcy, which is 3 years from acceptance of your Bankruptcy Form (formerly a ‘statement of affairs’) unless there is an objection to discharge, you will then resume receiving your tax refunds.

The eligibility rules for JobKeeper are changing from the September 2020 quarter.

Changes to the turnover tests

The Australian Taxation Office, or more correctly the Federal Commissioner of Taxation (“the Commissioner”), is no ordinary creditor. The Commissioner doesn’t supply goods or services, doesn’t render tax invoices, and doesn’t close your account when you don’t pay.

The Commissioner’s rights as a creditor do not arise from contract, but from the operation of law, in particular the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (“TAA”).  In general terms, the TAA creates a statutory debt.

As the Federal Government’s measures for temporary relief for financially distressed businesses expire on 31 December 2020, new insolvency procedures will come into effect on 1 January 2021.

The aim of these new procedures are to give small businesses a fighting chance. The new procedures will apply to companies with liabilities of less than $1 million.  The $1 million threshold covers about 76% of businesses.