As you may be aware the JobKeeper legislation has passed parliament, however much of it is still in draft form. There remains uncertainty regarding some finer points and mechanics of the scheme, and new details are being released daily.
Whilst we will continue to keep you informed, we would encourage you to regularly check the below links to determine how the rules may apply to your individual circumstances:
Australian Taxation Office: https://www.ato.gov.au/general/JobKeeper-Payment/
Treasury: https://treasury.gov.au/coronavirus/jobkeeper
Most of our small business clients expecting to be eligible for JobKeeper would have registered their interest, if not you can do so here https://www.ato.gov.au/general/JobKeeper-Payment/.
For now, there are a few important points to be aware of.
- 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. We are hopeful that in the coming days more information will be available to assist employers uncertain with regard to their eligibility.
- We recommend making a list of your employees now and determining on a case by case basis if they are eligible. Employees you determine are eligible, must be provided with the JobKeeper employee nomination notice, see https://www.ato.gov.au/Forms/JobKeeper-payment—employee-nomination-notice/ If you want to claim the JobKeeper payment for April, this form must be returned to you by the end of April.
- 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 even if it has been paid late, provided it is paid by you by the end of April. This means that you can make two fortnightly payments of at least $1,500 per fortnight before the end of April, or a combined payment of at least $3,000 before the end of April.
- The first JobKeeper payments from the ATO will be made in the first week of May.
Please do not hesitate to contact Brealey Quill Kenny should you wish to discuss the above further on 9256 2777.