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Special eligibility rules

Last updated 12 February 2023

Find out about the special eligibility rules for entities and businesses receiving cash flow boosts.

New to business

If you are a new business that didn't have income in the 2018–19 year, you may still be eligible to receive the cash flow boost if you made supplies or sales in a tax period ending before 12 March 2020. The December 2019 quarter and the month of February 2020 are the last tax periods that end before 12 March 2020.

In most cases, if you lodged an activity statement before 12 March 2020 which showed sales, you won't need to do anything.

If you made a supply in one of those relevant tax periods but didn't lodge any activity statements before 12 March 2020, you need to contact us and provide further information so that we can determine if you are eligible.

If your business made no sales before 1 January 2020 for quarterly lodgers) or 1 March 2020 (for monthly lodgers) you will not be eligible.

Find out how to provide more information about your eligibility or ineligibility.

Example: a business that is not eligible for the cash flow boost

Carmel applied for an ABN and started a food delivery business in February 2020. She has one employee that she pays wages to fortnightly.

Carmel's business was not operating in the 2018–19 year so she has not lodged a tax return. Because she reports GST quarterly, Carmel also has not made any sales in a tax period which ended before 12 March 2020.

Carmel is not eligible to receive a cash flow boost.

End of example

Charities

If you are a charity registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), you are eligible regardless of when you were registered as a charity, if you:

  • had an aggregated annual turnover under $50 million (generally based on prior year turnover)
  • made eligible payments that you were required to withhold from (even if the amount you were required to withhold is zero).

Business created PAYG withholding role after 12 March 2020

The cash flow boost is intended for employers who:

  • make payments subject to withholding
  • withhold from these payments
  • have not rearranged their affairs for the dominant purpose of making themselves eligible for the cash flow boost where they would not otherwise be eligible.

While having a PAYG withholding role before 12 March 2020 is not specifically required by legislation, we would expect that a business who has been paying wages or other relevant payments would already have been registered. A business without a PAYG withholding registration in place on 12 March 2020 would generally not be entitled to the cash flow boost.

There may be limited circumstances where the business was not registered on 12 March 2020 and may still be eligible. These circumstances include where:

  • the business started employing in the March 2020 period, and either  
    • the employees were engaged before 12 March 2020 but were not required to be paid until 12 March 2020 or later
    • the employees were engaged after 12 March 2020, but the business can demonstrate there were other reasons for engaging the employee after that date, considering the current economic environment that businesses are currently operating in
  • the business has a history of paying wages to the relevant employees and can substantiate this.

If you can demonstrate the above circumstances, contact us and provide additional information so we can determine if you’re eligible.

A business that has a history of paying wages but has not been registered for PAYG withholding, may be liable for penalties for failing to withhold and failing to register for PAYG withholding.

Entities that are not registered for GST

You don’t need to be registered for GST to be eligible. If you have already lodged your 2019 tax return showing that you had an amount included in your assessable income in relation to you carrying on a business and meet other eligibility criteria, you do not need to do anything.

If you are not required to be registered for GST and you are not required to lodge a 2019 tax return (or it is not yet due), you may be eligible if you made a sale in the period 1 July 2018 to 31 December 2019.

You must provide us with additional information about your business activity (such as sales made in relevant periods) so we can determine if you’re eligible.

If your business made no sales before 1 January 2020, you will not be eligible.

Find out how to provide more information about your eligibility or ineligibility.

Example: not required to be registered for GST and tax return not due

FreshCo is a company that runs a small vegetable shop. It has held an ABN since July 2000, pays a weekly wage to 2 shop staff, but has never been required to register for GST. FreshCo’s director, Mary, checks whether FreshCo will be eligible to receive the cash flow boost.

She considers the eligibility criteria. She determines she has met all the criteria except for demonstrating business activity by lodging (before 12 March 2020) her 2019 tax return showing business income, or an activity statement or GST return showing supplies.

As FreshCo is not required to be registered for GST, it has never lodged an activity statement or return for GST. FreshCo uses a tax agent to prepare their tax returns, and their 2019 tax return is not due until May 2020.

It appears as if FreshCo is not eligible to receive the cash flow boost because it has not lodged. However, Mary does some more research on the ATO website, and discovers advice about the impact of lodgment deferrals. She learns that because the law did not require FreshCo to have lodged before 12 March 2020, FreshCo can provide more information to confirm eligibility.

Mary decides that it is not possible to lodge FreshCo’s 2019 tax return earlier than anticipated. Instead, she locates copies of invoices issued by FreshCo in December 2019 showing that FreshCo made a GST-free supply (that is, they sold vegetables) in a tax period which ended between 1 July 2018 and 12 March 2020. Mary attaches those invoices to a message in the Business Portal so that the ATO can confirm FreshCo’s eligibility for the cash flow boost.

End of example

Entities with a reduction in turnover to below $50 million

If your aggregated turnover in previous years was greater than $50 million, but you expect it to be less than $50 million in 2019–20, you may still be eligible to receive a cash flow boost.

To provide more information about your circumstances, contact us.

Find out how to Provide more information about your eligibility or ineligibility.

Example: a business that is experiencing a reduction in turnover

Sri runs a cellar door service for several regional wineries. The aggregated turnover of her business in 2018–19 was $60 million.

In the financial year up to 29 February 2020, Sri's business had a turnover of $40 million. However, as a result of restrictions imposed as a response to the coronavirus, Sri is not permitted to trade between 25 March and 30 June 2020. Therefore, she expects her aggregated turnover for 2019–20 year to be around $41 million.

Sri contacts the ATO to discuss her eligibility for the cash flow boost and provides the additional supporting documents requested.

End of example

Businesses with related parties, or that are part of a group

Your aggregated turnover will include your annual turnover and the annual turnover of any entity that is connected with you or that is your affiliate. This may affect your eligibility for the cash flow boost. If you are part of a tax consolidated group or GST group these entities may be part of the same group, however it may also include entities which are outside these groups.

An entity is connected with you if it can exercise control, such as voting rights and distributions of income or capital. An entity is an affiliate of yours if they act, or could reasonably be expected to act, according to your directions or wishes, in relation to their business affairs.

We will use the annual turnover in your most recent previous year’s tax return, and other information held by us, to determine your eligibility. If your annual turnover and the annual turnovers of entities connected or affiliated with you total more than $50 million, then you (and the entities connected or affiliated with you) will not be eligible for the cash flow boost.

If you are not required to lodge a tax return, or don't have lodgments from previous years, you may still be eligible if we are satisfied that your aggregated annual turnover is under $50 million.

Find out how to work out your aggregated turnover.

Example: a business that is part of a group

Companies B and C are subsidiaries of Company A. Each company reported individual annual turnover of $26 million in their 2019 tax return.

Companies B and C are connected to Company A. Although Companies B and C each have annual turnover that is below $50 million, their aggregated turnover includes the annual turnover of Company A. As their aggregated annual turnover is over $50 million, they are not eligible to receive a cash flow boost.

End of example

Businesses that are members of a consolidated or GST group

If you are a member of an income tax consolidated group or a GST group, you may be eligible for the cash flow boost if you can individually meet the eligibility criteria.

The lodgment of a tax return by the head company or a GST return by the representative member does not provide us enough information to determine your eligibility for the cash flow boost, even where they include amounts of assessable income or taxable supplies made by you.

We will need you to provide us with additional information about your business activity (such as sales you made in the relevant periods) so we can determine if you’re eligible.

Example: a business that is a member of a consolidated and GST group

Companies Y and Z are members of an income tax consolidated group and a GST group for which Company X is both the head company for the tax consolidated group and the representative member of the GST group. Company X has the group's income tax and GST returns for the 2018–19 year.

The group returns do not provide enough information to show that Companies Y and Z each either:

  • had business income in the 2018–19 year
  • made a taxable, GST-free or input taxed supply in a tax period that started after 1 July 2018 and ended before 12 March 2020.

Companies Y and Z need to provide additional information about their business activity which shows the business income or supplies they made.

End of example

Businesses with multiple branches

If you are an entity that operates several branches of a business using one ABN, you are considered a single business for the purposes of the cash flow boost. This means you are not entitled to receive a separate cash flow boost for each branch.

Example: a business that has multiple branches

Con runs 3 pharmacies in Townsville using his ABN. Each pharmacy pays staff separately and lodges separate activity statements.

Con is only entitled to receive the cash flow boost for a single business, not for each pharmacy.

End of example

Businesses that are part of a GST joint venture 

A GST joint venture can't be registered for PAYG withholding however, entities that are members of the venture may be registered for PAYG withholding in their own right. In this scenario, the entitlement to cash flow boost will be determined based on the PAYG withholding reported by the joint venture member.

Businesses that use another entity to manage payroll

Only an entity making payments subject to withholding and notifying us of the withholding amount may be eligible for the cash flow boost. If another entity is responsible for the payroll functions and withholding obligations for one or more other entities, those other entities are not eligible for the cash flow boost.

Example: a business that uses another entity to manage its payroll

Company A manages the payroll functions for Companies B, C and D. Company A pays the wages for all of Companies B, C and D's employees, withholds tax from the wages and reports and remits the amounts of PAYG withholding to the Commissioner.

Company A may be eligible for the cash flow boost. Companies B, C and D will not be eligible for the cash flow boost as they have not made any payments subject to withholding.

End of example

Impact of lodgment deferrals

You won't be disadvantaged if, before 12 March 2020, we gave you a deferral for your:

  • 2018–19 tax return, or it is not yet due for you
  • activity statements, or you are not required to lodge an activity statement yet.

We'll need more information to confirm your eligibility for the cash flow boosts if you:

  • haven't lodged because of the deferral we gave you
  • can't lodge your deferred tax return or activity statement before you lodge your March 2020 activity statement.

If you can lodge your deferred tax return or activity statement before your March 2020 activity statement, we should be able to determine your eligibility when you lodge.

Example: deferred lodgment due dates

Hieu uses a tax agent to prepare his business income tax and annual GST returns. He didn't lodge his 2019 tax return or annual GST return by 12 March 2020 because his due date for these lodgments was 15 May 2020.

Hieu remains eligible to receive the cash flow boost if he lodged his 2019 tax return or 2018–19 annual GST return before his due date.

If Hieu lodges his March 2020 activity statement before either of the 2018–19 returns are lodged, the cash flow boost will be credited when the first return is lodged.

Alternatively, Hieu can provide us with supporting documents that help us determine if he's eligible.

End of example

Providing more information about your eligibility or ineligibility

Some businesses must provide us with more information before we can determine if they're eligible to receive the cash flow boost. For example, we will need more information from:

  • businesses with aggregated turnover that reduces to below $50 million for the 2019–20 year
  • businesses that do not have an obligation to lodge at least one of the following  
    • a 2019 tax return which shows an amount included in assessable income in relation to carrying on a business
    • an activity statement or GST return for any tax period that started after 1 July 2018 and ended before 12 March 2020 which shows a taxable, GST-free or input-taxed sale.

If you haven't received the cash flow boost automatically, check out our eligibility companion guide which gives an overview of how we determine eligibility.

You can also contact us if your business is not eligible to receive the cash flow boost, but you are concerned that a cash flow boost has been credited to you. For example, because you have a business structure that makes identifying affiliates difficult.

If you need to discuss your eligibility, phone us on 13 28 66 and select option 7.

See how to Contact us or Find it on ATO Community.

Additional information we may need as evidence

The supporting documents we may ask for will depend on your circumstances.

If you have a reduction in turnover

For businesses that have experienced a reduction in turnover, the documents may include:

  • business records showing year-to-date turnover
  • directives issued by state or territory governments that prohibit trading
  • other documents that demonstrate the reasons for turnover declining.

If you have not lodged tax returns or activity statements

For businesses that have not lodged tax returns or activity statements and need to provide information about their business activity the documents may include:

  • details of when the business commenced and the nature of the activities that the business carries on
  • bank statements in the business name which confirm payments received in relation to business activity
  • tax invoices or receipts provided for any supplies made by the business
  • records of merchant payment facilities
  • evidence of corporate structure, including ASIC registration for companies, partnership agreement, executed trust deed
  • occupancy agreements (such as leases) for business premises
  • documents showing business financing arrangements
  • business contracts
  • advertising of business services.

If we need documents about your employees

For businesses that need to provide additional information about their employees, we'll need evidence that an employment relationship exists. Details include:

  • who the employees are
  • how long employees have been employed
  • the work contracts between your business and your employees
  • payroll information
  • employer insurance policies, such as workers compensation insurance
  • the work employees performed in line with the remuneration
  • superannuation payments you have made
  • the nature of the work employees do for your business.

Evidence of payments made which were subject to withholding

Businesses will also need to provide evidence that payments have been made to the employees during the relevant tax period. To show payments were made, we generally require copies of original bank statements verifying the salary and wage payments made to employees in the period. The original bank statements should be on an official bank letterhead and include the entity name and address of the business.

Further evidence of salary and wage payments may include:

  • pay slips you have issued to employees
  • employee declarations, such as a tax file number (TFN) declaration or withholding variation
  • registration for, or remittance of, state and territory payroll taxes.

Find out about the delivery of the cash flow boosts.

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