With the announcement of the 21 day lock down this week, many businesses find themselves in the very difficult position of facing 21 days without income.
Now while some businesses can use online platforms to market and continue growing during this time, for some this is a potentially very dangerous financial set back.
The announcement that the government is setting up “a special dispensation for companies that are in distress because of COVID19” as well as “using the tax system” to provide relief in various sectors may just be the silver lining many businesses need to see them through the dark days ahead.
However, the application for funds from the special dispensation and the tax system will undoubtably require businesses to present a strong business case for why they qualify. This is to protect the system from abuse and to ensure that the money goes to legitimate organisations in distress.
If your business is going to be without income for the next 21 days and severely affected by the lock down, you could well qualify for the help the government is offering, however there are 3 elements Venaccuracc Accounting believes will need to be in place for you to effectively claim from the government.
One of the most important aspects is likely to be the businesses ability to show how the accounts were working prior to the 21-day lock down and how they are affected by the 21-day lock down.
If your accounts are months in arrears or difficult to follow it is likely to be very difficult for the administration to approve your claim. It’s also highly likely that confused and unclear books will result in a plethora of questions which will delay the relief the business so desperately needs.
Venaccuracc Accounting is able to present clear accounts by organising and sorting through previous accounts records and providing the right documentation for your business.
Take a look at what Guardarm Security cc one of our clients had to say:
“Venaccuracc Accounting was able to deal with a 3-year backlog in financial issues & admin in our company to get us current with all facets within 1 month, ensuring that we had all our requirements met with when it counted!”
The second area the government will be very strict with is tax compliance. If your business is not properly registered with SARS then you will not be able to claim from the special dispensation or use the tax system to alleviate financial pressure.
Venaccuracc Accountants work with you to ensure that your business is tax compliant, which is not only an empowering element now, but an important element for going forward too.
These two stories from our clients are great examples of how Venaccuracc can assist with tax compliance in ordinary circumstances, let alone in helping your business with compliance for the current extraordinary circumstances.
Venaccuracc saves client tax penalty money
We assisted a lady that was 10 years behind on her tax returns. We managed to get them up to date within a week and reduced the penalties from R71 000 to R35 000 saving her R36 000.
Venaccuracc empowers client with tax refund
In another instance we helped an employee with an Income Tax refund. He worked outside the country for a long period of time and wasn’t aware that he could claim back on his PAYE. If we can put in the additional amount He received R78000
There are several areas in your business that require compliance, from the registration of your company to ongoing requirements that, if not in place, are likely to hamper any claims from the COVID19 special dispensation and/or the tax systems.
The Venaccuracc team of accountants will work with you to ensure that every i is dotted and every t crossed increasing the chances of a successful claim from the government which could be what saves your business.
This recent story from one of our clients is a good example of how Venaccuracc has helped clients with these types of issues in the past:
A business owner recently wanted to apply for a bond, but the bank got back to her and said her company was being deregistered.
She immediately phoned us and asked what that meant.
We explained the process of having to submit annual returns and if not done over a period of time CIPC declares the company as dormant and starts the deregistration process.
As she had no idea that those had to be submitted, she wasn’t aware on what to look for.
Venaccuracc was able to catch the problem early and we managed to get her company compliant, in order for the bank to continue with the application.
If you are concerned about the financial health of your company post the COVID19 lock down and are considering entering a claim to the government contact Venaccuracc Accounting first so that we can get all of the compliance issues ironed out and increase your chances of success.
