Does your business rely on direct debits (and stopping cards)

Discussion in 'Accounting & Tax' started by Paul@PAS, 3rd Apr, 2020.

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  1. Paul@PAS

    Paul@PAS Tax, Accounting + SMSF + All things Property Tax Business Plus Member

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    https://www.smh.com.au/business/sma...debits-leave-gyms-fuming-20200331-p54fhz.html

    Two sides to this story. I will deal with the business related aspects first. Many card settlement companies are auto cancelling card direct debits stopping income flowing to the business. This is often the basis for gyms and others who pay charge a monthly fee. Subscription basis etc.

    Makes sense I guess. But for a business that does this its possible not all clients will seek to cancel so be wary of this as manual processing may be needed.

    The otherside if affected consumers. Those who lose a job certainly wont want companies charging for services epecially if the services cant be obtain in part or full.

    For those with lost or reduced income its worth review of your direct debits etc. You may even have this managed by a third party eg Paypal. Login to paypal (on a PC not a device) and check and you can cancel these. You may also need to consider contacting your card provider to STOP the card and seek a replacement,. Warning....Many banks will issue a nw card with a different exp date and some billers can still bill you. You may need to request a complete new card number to be issued not just a replacement.

    Just because you are billed does not eman you can seek chargeback if it was authorised. But you are entitled to withdraw authority and the bank may in some cases be able to assist. Changing the card is a great way to communicate the issue to avoid surprise.
     
  2. mikey7

    mikey7 Well-Known Member

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    I feel for the businesses losing the income, but I'd be pretty annoyed if they kept charging me whilst they were closed and I'm not able to get the benefit of what I'm paying for.

    We stopped our little one going to school 2 weeks weeks ago, and so she stopped going to after school school hours care (OOSH) too. We have an agreement with the OOSH that if the little one doesn't attend for whatever reason, we still have to pay, which is fair enough (they're still open).

    Ever since the lockdown, even though schools and OOSH are still open, they've actually stopped charging us until at least next term.
    Thankfully Scomo has offered to pay for childcare, so maybe they can still get something. But still doesn't leave us out of pocket.

    (The amount of school we do at home now, wish the Govt paid me the teachers wage - it's full time! And I still have to go to actual work, full time).
     
  3. Paul@PAS

    Paul@PAS Tax, Accounting + SMSF + All things Property Tax Business Plus Member

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    Mikey - Speak to the teachers. (Wife is a principal). Full time is too much for kids and doesnt reflect their normal day at all. My wife stuns parents etc when she explains kids can only focus for 1 minute of each of their years of age. Loads of breaks or gaps are needed and in a real class teachers do this by moving questions around the class to re-engage them. A few good hours a day may be more productive with loads of short breaks.

    Step one of switching to home schooling was teaching the parents not to think a full day was required. PS Your kids may need a incursion !! Send them to Taronga zoo each day for 1hr of 3 x 20mins. Their website is really good. There are loads of these learning experiences out there. Ask questions about what they learned. Draw something. Dress up even. (them !!)
     
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