Jobkeeper warning for small businesses

By Samantha Elley

A $17,500 bill from the tax office is not the type of love letter anyone appreciates, but that is what Woodburn and Evans Head businessman Alex Clark received recently.

Mr Clark runs the Burntwood Café in Woodburn and Evans to Betsy in Evans Head and his businesses have taken a double hit, firstly from COVID19 and then when the new bypass was opened.

Advertisements

Like many other small business owners, Mr Clark applied for Jobkeeper to be able to keep his staff and run his business during lockdown brought on by COVID19.

“To get Jobkeeper you have to show that your business has dropped 30 per cent in takings,” said Mr Clark.

Mr Clark was able to show this, but as restrictions eased, he had underestimated what his takings would be.

Mr Clark said the issue was each month when he filled in his Jobkeeper paperwork, he had to predict what he would make each month.

“With running the two businesses my takings for three months went over the 30 per cent,” he said.

“(The tax office) wanted the money back for the three months, but after that my takings went down below the margin again.”

“When the ATO rang, they told me I had broken the rules,” Mr Clark said.

“They told me, if I wanted I could take it to another level and admit I made a mistake and ask for leniency.

“I contacted Kevin Hogan’s office who wrote a letter of support and I wrote to the tax office and they gave me leniency.”

Mr Clark now doesn’t have to pay the $17,500 but he wanted other small businesses to be careful when filling in their Jobkeeper paperwork.

“The takings for my business in Woodburn plummeted so much from the new highway, but they did not take that into account,” he said.

Mr Clark said the tax office had looked at the earnings as one, not the two separate businesses.

Picture caption: Alex Clark, owner of two businesses was hit with a $17,500 tax bill for Jobkeeper.