While most of us were busy trying to relax and enjoy an unusual Easter long weekend, the ATO has been busy putting some further details into guidance around the $1,500 fortnightly Jobkeeper payments. The first round of guidance has been released with information regarding the turnover eligibility criteria and application process.
In terms of the drop in turnover tests, the ATO will assess this based on your total GST sales in the month of March 2020 compared to the March 2019. Alternatively you can project your GST turnover for the month of April 2020 and compare to April 2019 or the June quarter 2020 and compare to June 2019. The ATO has indicated that it will provide further guidance on this turnover test but this is at least a starting point for businesses. Further guidance will also be released by the ATO on the alternative test which will apply to businesses who do not have 12 months of trading information.
It is important to note that businesses who are not eligible initially but then prove their eligibility later will only receive payments from that time on and the payments will not be backdated to 30 March 2020. Another important note is that businesses only need to meet the eligibility criteria once and they can receive the fortnightly payments until the scheme ends in late September.
The guidance also provides further information regarding the application process. From 20 April, tax agents will be able to enrol on behalf of clients while businesses will be able to enrol into the scheme through their Business Portal. Businesses will need to provide their bank account details, specify the number of employees eligible for each fortnightly payment (remembering that any eligible employee MUST be included) and provide proof the employee has been notified via a special JobKeeper employee nomination notice (https://www.ato.gov.au/Forms/JobKeeper-payment—employee-nomination-notice/) and confirmed they are not receiving the payment from another employer.
The last step will then be to apply for the payment from 4 May 2020. This will be done through identifying the eligible employees either through Single Touch Payroll (STP) records or manually entering the employees details on the Business Portal if STP is not used. It is also crucial that eligible businesses pay all their eligible employees their usual fortnightly wages (or a minimum of $1,500 per fortnight if they are usually paid less or have had their employment terms changed by agreement). The ATO has clarified that businesses will need to verify that they have paid their employees their $3,000 for April before the end of the month.
If you have any queries or need any assistance with this payment, please do not hesitate to contact us. For further information, also see the below for the ATO’s website link on the guidance.
