Jobkeeper Update

The Government has amended the JobKeeper rules to allow more employees to qualify for the JobKeeper payment. This is achieved by extending the eligible employee test to also include eligible employees who were employed on 1 July 2020 (in addition to those employed on the original 1 March 2020 employment date).

As a result, more of your employees may qualify for JobKeeper payments from 3 August 2020, if they were employed on 1 July 2020 and meet the other eligibility criteria.

Participating employers must take action immediately to ensure that any newly eligible employees are provided with an employee nomination form by Monday 24 August 2020 and to satisfy the ‘wage condition’ (i.e., make appropriate employee payments) by 31 August 2020.

To download the Employee Nomination Form, click on the link below and if you require any assistance or further clarification on the above, please don’t hesitate to contact us on 4638 5300.

www.ato.gov.au/Forms/JobKeeper-payment—employee-nomination-notice/

View the Fact Sheet: https://www.ato.gov.au/uploadedFiles/Content/CR/downloads/QC63444_Jobkeeper_extension_infograph.pdf

Key points

  • You can enrol at any time until the program closes.
  • Pay your eligible employees $1,500 per fortnight (before tax) until 27 September 2020.
  • Complete your monthly business declarations.

Changes to employee eligibility

  • Employees that meet the eligibility requirements can now be nominated by a new employer if their original employment with a JobKeeper employer ended before 1 July 2020.
  • As of 3 August 2020, the key date for assessing employee eligibility is now 1 July 2020, rather than 1 March 2020.
  • For the fortnights commencing on 3 and 17 August 2020, employers have until 31 August 2020 to meet the wage condition for new eligible employees under the 1 July eligibility test.

Extensions to the JobKeeper Payment

The government has announced extensions to the JobKeeper Payment. Once legislated, these changes take effect from 28 September 2020.

  • The required fall in GST turnover percentages will remain the same
    • 30% for an aggregated turnover of $1 billion or less
    • 50% for an aggregated turnover of $1 billion or more
    • 15% for ACNC-registered charities other than universities and schools.
  • There will be a tier 1 and a tier 2 JobKeeper rate.
  • Tier 1 rate applies for:
    • eligible employees who were working for 20 hours or more a week on average in the four weeks of pay periods before either 1 March 2020 or 1 July 2020, and
    • eligible business participants who were actively engaged in the business for 20 hours or more per week on average.
  • Tier 2 rate applies for other eligible employees and business participants.
  • Employers and businesses will need to nominate the rate they are claiming for the eligible employees and/or eligible business participants.

Extension 1
The first extension period is from 28 September 2020 until 3 January 2021.
You will need to demonstrate that your actual GST turnover has fallen in the September 2020 quarter (July, August, September) relative to a comparable period (generally the corresponding quarter in 2019).

The tier 1 rate will be $1,200 per fortnight.
The tier 2 rate will be $750 per fortnight.

Extension 2
The second extension period is from 4 January 2021 until 28 March 2021.

You will need to demonstrate that your actual GST turnover has fallen in the December 2020 quarter (October, November, December) relative to a comparable period (generally the corresponding quarter in 2019).

The tier 1 rate will be $1,000 per fortnight.
The tier 2 rate will be $650 per fortnight.

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