Treatment of Government's small business cash boost

Hi there, alect.

I'll share with you the steps on how to record the refund in QuickBooks Online. Here's how:

1. Go to the GST Centre from the left-hand menu.
2. Click Record Payment in the Action column for the BAS period you wish to record the refund against.
3. Change the radio button option to Refund.
4. Select the date of the refund and the account the refund was deposited to.
5. Input the amount of the payment and any memo for the transaction.
6. Click the Save button.

Please take a look at this article for additional details: Recording a GST refund.

Let me know if you need anything else. 

Thanks.  It will actually not be a GST refund but a PAYG Withholding refund.  Does that make a difference either to the way to enter it or to the end of year accounting for it and tax preparation?

Thanks for getting back to us, @alect.

You can create a Journal Entry to record the government's refund for PAYG Withholding. Before doing so, I highly suggest consulting your accountant for further assistance with the process to ensure your books are accurate for your business.

Here's how:

1. In QuickBooks Online (QBO), go to the + New option at the top left to get to the Journal Entry.
2. Enter the necessary information to record the refund.
3. Once done, hit Save and close.

Just in case, I'll add these articles for future reference:

• Reporting PAYG Withholding on BAS and IAS.
• GST Chart of Accounts and Lodgement Journal Overview (Australia only).

Please let me know if you have any other issues or concerns by leaving a comment below. I'm always here to answer them. Have a great weekend!

Hi @FritzF .
I noticed, with this way of recording the PAYGW Refund (the Cash Boost), is that in the GST Centre, QBO still believes there is a Payment that needs to be made for Jan-Mar 2020 BAS (ie: the BAS for that period).

However, the ATO, will pay for this BAS period, and provide us with a Refund of the Residual monies.

Thanks

Yeah I assume the cash boost (ie refund of PAYG payable) will happen as a credit on the BAS account.  So in GST centre it will still show up as a liability.  What is needed I assume is a non-taxable income category to record the credit or refund under and against the liability of GST/PAYG payable.????

@alectyes. It would be great if QuickBooks can publish an Article of how to go about doing this. As a lot of QBO Users will have the same issue.

Another thing is, the Cash Boost amount that is actually refunded into the Bank will actually be the residual amount after the BAS Liability is deducted.

eg: BAS Liability is $2000. The Cash Boost is $10000 from the ATO.
The ATO will offset the $2000 from the $10000, hence there is no BAS Liability of $2000.
And then refund the $8000 into the Bank account.
How to tell QBO's GST Centre  that the $2000 is already "paid" on our behalf, and also now we receive $8000 Boost?

How does this cash boost affect your end of year P&L as the PAYG will show as paid.. but the cash stayed in the account.. 

Hi marktay,

The Cash Boost payment is a government grant treated as income. If you followed the steps in the guide on recording the Cash Boost, you can record the payment of the PAYG from the Cash Boost clearing account created to show it was paid with these funds. Otherwise, you can record it as paid from your bank account or so on - ultimately, it is up to you how you record this activity to best suit your business. For questions on how this will impact your P&L and/or your business, you will need to speak with your accountant as we are unable to provide advice specific to your books. 

-Kass