JobKeeper enrolments are open

If you have registered your interest in the Commonwealth JobKeeper Payment, you should have received news from the Australian Taxation Office that enrolments are now open.

If you intend to make a claim for payments that fall in April, you will need to enrol before the end of the month to ensure you receive payments as early as possible. This step is additional to registering your interest, which we invited you to do when the payments were first announced by the National Cabinet.

There are a few steps involved, along with forms for both employer and employee to fill out, making it necessary for most to start the process now.

To aid in this exercise, we have summarised the steps involved and provided links below.

 

Claiming the JobKeeper Payment on behalf of your employees

1. Eligibility

• Determine the eligibility of your business to participate in the JobKeeper Payment scheme. This includes being able to demonstrate a 30% drop in turnover as a result of COVID-19.
   
• Determine the eligibility of your staff to receive payments. Each employee must have been actively employed in the business on 1 March 2020. They must be older than 16 years of age and not currently receiving any Government payments that conflict with the JobKeeper Payment.
   

2. Enrol

• Contact each employee you plan to nominate. You must ensure they are not nominated through another company, as they can only receive the payment once. Send each employee the JobKeeper Employee nomination notice. This must be returned to you by the end of the month and kept on file.
   
• Enrol the business through the ATO. There are three ways you can do this.
  
  1. Through the ATO Business Portal
  2. Using ATO Online Services through MyGov (for sole traders)
  3. Using a registered tax or BAS agent
  
  Instructions can be found here
   
• Identify and maintain your eligible employees with the ATO. There are a few different ways to do this depending on your payroll software and your number of employees. You can find instructions here.
   
• Make a business monthly declaration. You can do this through your tax agent, or via the ATO Business Portal. Each month you will need to reconfirm your eligible employees as well as make a GST turnover estimate. This is not a means test, but a measure of business progress under the JobKeeper Payment scheme.
   

3. Payments

• Payments will be made to employers via the bank details provided in their enrolment form.
   
• JobKeeper payments are paid to employers in arrears.
   
• Employers must pay their employees (a minimum of $1500 per fortnight) during the applicable pay period and be reimbursed by the ATO. If you are claiming for the two fortnights in April, you will need to ensure your employees are paid the minimum before the end of this month.
   
• In order to remain eligible for the JobKeeper Payment, employers must continue to pay nominated employees a minimum of $1,500 per fortnight, regardless of their normal earnings.
   
• The JobKeeper Payment is considered assessable income for the business receiving the subsidy and normal deductibility rules apply. The payments are not subject to GST.
  
   

 

Important things to note:

To ensure you receive payments as early as possible you should enrol by the end of April. However, enrolments are open until the end of May if you need more time.

If any employees leave your business during the duration of the JobKeeper Payment scheme, you must make the ATO aware. This can be done through the business monthly declaration.

The Federal Government have announced the intention that Superannuation guarantee payments will not be required on JobKeeper Payments. However, these rules are still in development. The ATO will update registered JobKeeper businesses when the changes are made.

If your employees have been stood down and are currently receiving other payments eg. Job Seeker, they must contact Services Australia to let them know you have applied for JobKeeper on their behalf in order to avoid a payable debt.

I will continue to bring relevant information regarding the JobKeeper Payment and any other Government measure as it becomes available.

Should you have a question you would like answered in an update, please send it through here.

 

Currency Of Information & Disclaimer

This update was issued on 21 April 2020 and please note that changes in circumstances after the publication of material or information may impact upon its accuracy and also change regulatory compliance obligations. The statements, regulatory and technical information contained herein are believed to be accurate and are provided for information purposes only. Readers are responsible for assessing its relevance and verifying the accuracy of the content. To the fullest extent permitted by law, ADIA will not be liable for any loss, damage, cost or expense incurred in relation to or arising as a result of relying on the information presented here.

This publication is available for your use under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence, with the exception of the ADIA logo, other images and where otherwise stated.