JobKeeper Payments: Update
From 20 April 2020, you can enrol with the ATO for the JobKeeper payment using the Business Portal and authenticate with myGovID. You must do this by the end of April to claim JobKeeper payments for April. Payments will be made to businesses in May.
STEP 1.
Register your interest
If you have not already registered your interest with the ATO, do so via the following link. This will provide you with up to date communications from the ATO regarding JobKeeper payments
STEP 2.
Register for business portal
If you have not already registered for the Business Portal, this will be required in order to lodge monthly reports with the ATO and claim the JobKeeper payments.
If you have not registered, please advise your accountant who the authorised contact person(s) should be for your business.
If you use the ATO Business Portal, you will need a myGovID linked to your ABN in relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM). You can find out how to set this up at ato.gov.au/mygovid
To set up the business portal for your business please follow the link below:
STEP 3.
Check you are an eligible employer
Check that you meet the eligibility requirements for JobKeeper, essentially:
On 1 March, you carried on business in Australia;
Your business has faced a minimum 30% fall in turnover.
To work out your fall in turnover to be eligible for JobKeeper for the first fortnight starting 30 March 2020, you can compare either:
GST turnover for March 2020 with GST turnover for March 2019;
projected GST turnover for April 2020 with GST turnover for April 2019;
projected GST turnover for the quarter starting April 2020 with GST turnover for the quarter starting April 2019.
How you choose to project your fall in turnover is not dependent on whether you report a quarterly or monthly BAS.
If you work out that you qualify for the JobKeeper payments for the first fortnight because your turnover has declined by the relevant amount, you remain eligible and do not need to keep testing turnover in following months.
The ATO will provide more information soon about applying the turnover test and ongoing monthly reporting requirements.
STEP 4.
Determine who your eligible employees are
Your employee is eligible if they:
Are employed by you;
Were part-time, full-time or long-term casual (employed on a regular and systematic basis for at least 12 months) as at 1 March 2020;
Were at least 16 years of age on 1 March 2020;
Were an Australian resident as at 1 March 2020 and are one of an Australian citizen, the holder of a permanent visa, or a Protected Special Category Visa Holder.
~ Your employee can also be an Australian tax resident who is a Special Category (Subclass 444) Visa Holder.
~ Employees who are not permanent residents of Australia must notify you of their visa status to confirm eligibility.Were not in receipt of these payments during the JobKeeper fortnight:
~ Government parental leave or Dad and partner pay;
~ Payment in accordance with Australian worker compensation law for an individual’s total incapacity for workNominating employees in Step 5
You cannot claim for any employees who:
were first employed by you after 1 March 2020, or
left your employment before 1 March 2020, or
have been, or have agreed to be, nominated by another employer.
Employees who have been terminated
If you terminated an employee after 1 March 2020, you can re-engage them and they will be eligible if they met the eligibility criteria on 1 March 2020.
If you want to claim the JobKeeper payment for employees you have re-engaged, you will need to:
confirm they want to be re-hired and participate in the JobKeeper scheme with you
re-engage the employees you want to claim for
ask them to complete the JobKeeper employee nomination notice and return it to you. You are required to keep this form as part of your records keeping obligations under the law
start paying them a minimum of $1,500 (before tax) for each fortnight they are employed and you claim for.
You will only be paid a JobKeeper payment for employees from the fortnight they were re-engaged. You cannot claim retrospectively for employees you re-engage.
STEP 5.
Nominating employees
Before you enrol to receive JobKeeper payments, you need to notify each eligible employee that you intend to nominate them as eligible employees under the JobKeeper scheme.
You must tell those employees that you have nominated them as an eligible employee to claim the JobKeeper payment. They must agree to be nominated by you by completing the JobKeeper employee nomination notice and returning it to you for your records.
The nomination form does not need to be provided to the ATO however employers are required to keep a copy of the completed form as part of their record keeping obligations under the law.
If an employee is currently receiving an income support payment, they must notify Services Australia (Centrelink) of their new income to avoid incurring a debt they will have to repay.
STEP 6.
Paying employees
You will not be eligible for the JobKeeper payment if you pay your nominated employee less than $1,500 per fortnight.
You should pay your employees for each JobKeeper fortnight you plan to claim for. The first fortnight is from 30 March – 12 April and each JobKeeper fortnight follows after that.
For the first two fortnights (30 March – 12 April, 13 April – 26 April), the ATO will accept the minimum $1,500 payment for each fortnight has been paid by you even if it has been paid late, provided it is paid by you before the end of April. This means that you can make a combined payment of at least $3,000 per employee before the end of April.
If your eligible employees earn more than $1,500 per fortnight, you should continue to pay them their regular salary or wages. However, you will only receive $1,500 for each eligible employee. Any amount you pay above $1,500 per fortnight is not subsidised by the JobKeeper payment.
Tax and super consequences
All JobKeeper payments are assessable income of the business
The normal deductibility rules apply to salaries and wages paid to the employees
No super is required on the additional payments made to employees as a result of JobKeeper
STEP 7.
Lodge application on business portal
Log onto the business portal between the 20th April and 30th April to ensure you have completed the registration process. You will need the employee details along with your bank account details.
Each month, you will need to reconfirm that your reported eligible employees have not changed through the Business Portal. This will ensure you will continue to receive the JobKeeper payments from the ATO. You do not need to retest your reported fall in turnover, but you will need to provide some information as to your current and projected turnover. This will be done in your monthly JobKeeper Declaration report.
More information
Feel free to contact the office and arrange a phone meeting with our team on (02) 9529 4411.
