Today’s Introduction

● There are 300 new cases in Australia, and Victoria added 285+…
● The housing and commercial loan extension plan will be implemented until January next year
● Morrison: Will further reduce the number of people arriving at Australia International Airport
● Do you say that working from home means “working from home”? Which one of the three tax refund declaration schemes to choose?
01
Australia has added 295+, and the number of confirmed cases has risen rapidly
According to data released today, there are more than 280 new cases in Victoria.

There were 14 new cases in NSW today. Thirteen cases were tourists returning to Australia; one case was a resident of Albury, which was related to the other two cases.
One new case was added in the Northern Territory today. A member of the US Marine Corps deployed in Darwin, who has been in isolation since entering the country on July 8.
Until the deadline for publication, there are no new additions in other states/territories.
At today’s cabinet meeting, Morrison stated that the National Cabinet agreed to reduce “the number of ports entering Australia that accept returning citizens and residents.”
Starting next Monday, the number of inbound flights will be reduced by half, which means that the number of Australian passengers that can enter each week has dropped by at least 4,000.

At the same time, returning passengers will also be required to pay the 14-day mandatory hotel quarantine fee.

The infection clusters in Victoria are rapidly spreading to Victorian nursing homes and hospitals, and more and more first-line medical staff, vulnerable patients and elderly residents have been affected by the virus.
The head of the emergency department at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne was forced to self-isolate after working face-to-face with the infected patient and subsequently tested positive.

Two senior nurses in the emergency room of The Royal Melbourne Hospital and two frontline first responders at Sunshine Hospital in Melbourne’s west also confirmed the infection.

The outbreak of the hospital epidemic has caused more than 50 frontline medical staff to be forced to self-quarantine.

A Woolwotrhs employee at the Pacific Werribe shopping center has confirmed that the supermarket has been closed for deep cleaning.
A student at the Beaconsfield campus of Francis Xavier College was diagnosed and was at school on June 24 and 25.
With the continuous surge in new additions, a more severe test is yet to come, and the Victorian ICU will soon be full!
It is understood that although fewer patients use ventilators, the use of intensive care units is close to capacity.

Among the 446 beds in Victoria
380 sheets have been put into use,
The capacity has reached 85%.

This does not include the 4,000 beds equipped with ventilators that the Victorian government plans to use when needed, which will require the mobilization of thousands of specially trained intensive care nurses.

In addition, of the 2076 ICU-equipped hospital beds in Australia, 1691 (81%) are full.
02
To contain the virus
Australia really intends to turn itself into an island
At present, due to the uncontrollable epidemic, international flights will not fly to Melbourne for the time being, which undoubtedly brings heavy pressure to other international airports led by Sydney.
Australian Prime Minister Morrison said that it may further reduce the number of passengers arriving at Australia’s international airport.

Since Australia closed its borders in March this year, although the number of passengers coming to Australia has dropped significantly, flights have continued to arrive, and imported cases have never stopped.
The second outbreak in Melbourne caused panic throughout Australia. And pulling a hair will move the whole body. Let us look at the changes we know so far regarding the entry of international passengers and whether returning to Australia will become more difficult.
First, whether the arrival rate of international passengers will change.
It seems possible. Today, when Prime Minister Morrison was asked if it is possible to further reduce the number of tourists travelling to Australia from overseas, he said that he is considering this matter. He said that a proposal will be submitted to the Cabinet on Friday.
Due to the rising number of confirmed cases in Melbourne, the Victorian government previously requested that international travelers not arrive in Melbourne for the time being.

The Western Australian government will limit the number of people returning to Perth from overseas to 525 per week.
The New South Wales government has also restricted the maximum number of arrivals at Sydney International Airport, which is 450 people per day.
Although each state is making its own arrangements, Friday’s proposal appears to be around balancing the number of tourists returning to Australia across the country.

Morrison said that in view of Melbourne’s current inability to accept overseas tourists, Friday’s proposal will focus on reducing the burden and pressure on other cities. In other words, other states do not want to further increase the number of overseas tourists. Then the decline in the arrival rate of international tourists will be the overall trend in Australia in the future.

Secondly, who else can come to Australia now?
Currently, the Australian border is closed to non-Australian citizens or permanent residents, as well as immediate family members of Australian citizens and permanent residents, or New Zealand citizens who usually reside in Australia.

Other travelers can apply to the Australian Border Force Commissioner for an exemption to come to Australia, but they need a good reason to be approved.
It is not clear how or whether the proposal submitted to the National Cabinet on Friday will affect who is eligible to enter Australia.

At present, all travelers coming to Australia from overseas must undergo a mandatory two-week quarantine at designated locations, and the quarantine must be carried out in the city where the traveler arrived.
Since the implementation of these regulations at the end of March, Victoria and NSW have had the largest number of mandatory quarantine, mainly because people have booked flights in these two places.

However, the complete failure of the Melbourne quarantine policy caused the Victorian government to request the suspension of international flights to Melbourne.

On Tuesday, SmartTraveller released the latest news, warning people returning to Australia that their flights may be affected by the new international passenger entry limit and the “requirements to bear quarantine costs.”
Third, how much does it cost to return to Australia?
As many airlines cut flights, some people say that ticket prices have risen sharply. But to be honest, this is not the only cost.
Until recently, most states and territories were still paying for the mandatory quarantine of international immigrants. Of course, Queensland has asked the quarantined to pay for it.

For interstate travel, some states and regions have also issued regulations requiring travelers to pay for quarantine when traveling in Australia.

But Morrison said that whether similar regulations are imposed on passengers from overseas depends on each jurisdiction.
In addition, Morrison was also asked if it would tax Australians who wish to travel abroad to help cover expenses and encourage people to travel within Australia.

Morrison admitted to speculation on this, but did not confirm whether a similar plan is under way. He said that these issues will be resolved in the budget.

03
Housing and Commercial Loan Extension Program
Will be implemented until January next year

At the height of the epidemic in Australia, thousands of Australians were applying for a JobKeeper subsidy of AU$1,500 every two weeks. In addition, during the epidemic, bank customers provided mortgage extension plans!

This heart-warming welfare plan has really helped Australians who are struggling to repay their mortgage loans.

However, this plan is coming to an end in September, and some Australians are becoming anxious as the day approaches.

Now, the good news is coming! The Federal Government and the Australian Bank have announced that for those who need support, a six-month housing and commercial loan extension plan will be implemented until January next year.
The plan was launched in March this year to allow Australians who are unemployed or in financial difficulties due to COVID-19 to suspend mortgage repayments.

It is estimated that since March, more than 800,000 bank customers have postponed repayments, with total loans amounting to $260 billion.

The federal government was expected to cancel the support plan in September, including salary subsidies for staff and epidemic subsidies for job seekers, because everyone expressed concern about an “economic crisis.”

Anna Bligh, Chief Executive of the Australian Banking Association (ABA), said: “The new phase of policy support has avoided economic crises, otherwise it will impose a heavy burden on customers and have a negative impact on the economy.”
The government also encourages borrowers who are facing “financial difficulties” due to the epidemic to contact banks to determine whether they can restructure or change their loans to get out of trouble. I have to say that it is really heartwarming!

04
Do you say that working from home means “working from home”?
Which of the three tax refund declaration schemes to choose?
A pandemic, a lockdown order that lasted for several months, seems to have caused many people in Australia to temporarily alienate or lose contact with their friends.
People who used to never leave their mobile phones every day, but now they may forget their mobile phones in a corner of the house and run out of power to shut down, and when restarting, they may even realize that:

During the time that you disappeared, no one has ever looked for you at all. But you are not forgotten by everyone. At least, one person’s text messages or emails never seem to be absent at this time of year:

Your accountant. Yes, the information sent by the accountant reminds that Australia’s annual tax refund season has come again.

However, this tax rebate season has caused Australians to work from home across the country due to the impact of the epidemic. Therefore, compared with previous fiscal years, it is very different and has also created many new problems:
During the epidemic, which area of the home should work from home? Which declaration plan should I choose to maximize the amount? Which expenses can and cannot be reported? When should I declare?…

For many people, this may also be the most “wonderful” and most “brain-burning” tax rebate season in Australian history.

Do you say that working from home means “working from home”? In fact, unless calculated at an average rate of AUD 0.8 per hour or family expenses are not considered at all, then declaring “work from home” means that you have to plan a special area dedicated to office at home.
Of course, if the calculation is based on the average area of household office expenses, the larger the office area, the larger the amount declared.

But this can be a study room, a study corner, or even a table you bought from IKEA during the epidemic.

Saul Markunsky, a financial expert, said that, for example, you can go to IKEA to buy a table to write freely at home, and then you can declare the full cost of the table and even the travel expenses to drive to IKEA. But anyway, it can’t be a table you usually use to eat.

Assistant Executive Officer Karen Foat of the Australian Taxation Office jokingly stated, “You can’t say that one side of my dining table is used for eating and the other side is a dedicated work area. If you use part of the dining table, then You don’t have a dedicated work area.”

Which one of the three tax refund declaration schemes to choose?
In fact, this year the Australian Taxation Office has three applicable tax refund declaration calculation schemes for working at home:

1. “Simple and Crude Method”
Just enumerate the total time spent working at home from March 1 to June 30 and multiply it by the average rate of 0.8 Australian dollars per hour to calculate the total tax refund.

Although this plan does not need to plan a work-at-home area and a long list of expenses to prove, according to the plan, if a person works 8 hours a day and 5 days a week, then he can get a refund of AU$6.4 a day. The total tax refund during the last period of time is only about 500 Australian dollars.

So for those who spend more to work at home, choosing the other two old schemes may require more mathematics, but it may be more cost-effective.
2. “Basic Additional Method”
On the premise that there is an office area at home, the expenses for household electricity, gas and office furniture are calculated at a rate of AUD 0.52 per hour of work, while additional expenses for calls, internet, office supplies, and depreciation of laptops, mobile phones and other equipment . Among them, call or network expenses require more than 4 weeks of work usage records. Items with a purchase price of less than A$300 can be declared in full, and items above A$300 generally need to be amortized annually.

Maquinsky said, “A computer worth 1,000 Australian dollars will be depreciated at a rate of 20% per year. So if you bought the computer in December last year, you actually only owned it for half a year in the last fiscal year. Then you can only declare 100 Australian dollars on the computer for this tax refund, and then you can only declare 200 Australian dollars every year after that.”

He added, but if you have your own ABN, you can declare it in full-as long as the amount is within the immediate deduction limit of A$120,000.

3. “Accounting method”
This program is worthy of its name and is also the most complex program. It requires a separate calculation of all the costs incurred by working at home, each related to work.

As mentioned earlier, if you want to include household expenses such as rent, cleaning, heating, air conditioning, electricity, etc., you also need to plan a work area at home, and then estimate the corresponding expenses in proportion to the space.

“For example, if you rent a house with five rooms including the kitchen and bathroom, and one of the rooms is used for work, then you can declare 20% of the rent.”
Maquinsky added, “But if you are an owner of a home, maybe you shouldn’t declare your mortgage-because this will affect the capital gains tax that will be generated when you sell your house in the future.”

In fact, the declaration of this part of work-related expenses is also the place where everyone’s brains are the biggest.

“Morning paper”, “evening paper”, or “no report”?
For many people, of course, the sooner you can get the tax refund, the better.

Lacey Filipich, the legendary author of “Money School” (Money School), said, “When you file a tax return, Australian tax The bureau considers all your sources of income: work, investments, dividends, etc. How much money did you pay in total, and how much money you made.”

“Therefore, when your income has dropped sharply during the epidemic, if you paid tax before, then you may get a large amount of money back when the tax refund (because you made more money this year than the Australian Taxation Office originally The estimated total is less).”

But on the other hand, if you are a self-employed and have not paid taxes yet, then Philippizzi suggests that you postpone your tax return until the end of the tax season in October-and just give yourself a little time to collect the expenses. .

“This year there may be a trend that people want to evade tax,” she said.

But what should come will always come. As Franklin (Benjamin Franklin) wrote in a letter more than 300 years ago, the classic saying:

“Nothing in this world is certain, except death and taxes.” (In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.)