What to do now ?? Jobkeeper – A guide to Register

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Your guide on what steps to take to claim JobKeeper

This is a guide for both Employers and Employees to understand the JobKeeper process – enrollment is open today.

It is important that you follow these steps closely (and a glass of wine is recommended!)

STEP 1. Are you Eligible?

  1. On 1 March 2020 did you carry on a business in Australia?
  2. Are you are a sole trader or employed at least 1 eligible employee on 1 March 2020?
  3. If you have a trust, partnership or company you can still be eligible even if you didn’t receive salary or wages as long as you are active in the business – you can nominate one “eligible business participant”
  4. Did your business have or will have a 30% fall in turnover?

STEP 2. If so, calculate your Turnover:

For most businesses you can choose the turnover reported on your BAS which is usually cash sales or you can choose to use invoiced sales (accruals method). Most importantly you only need to satisfy this test once and you are eligible for the subsidy for all periods thereafter regardless of turnover

For the first 2 pay periods in April (30 March to 12 April and 13 April to 26 April) you have a choice which turnover period to look at (it doesn’t matter whether you lodge monthly or quarterly BAS’s you can choose how to calculate it):

  1. Compare Actual March 2020 to Actual March 2019
  2. Compare Projected April 2020 to Actual April 2019
  3. Compare Projected quarter April to June 2020 to the Actual quarter April to June 2019

You are still eligible:

  • even if you aren’t registered for GST
  • or you are a new business
  • or your business has “lumpy” revenue

It appears you can make a forecast and the ATO will soon publish “alternative tests” for these types of business. (We will let you know when this happens)

You may also become eligible for later pay periods and you can look at any actual or projected month from March to September 2020 or the quarters ended 30 June 2020 or September 2020.

Please contact us should you require help forecasting and calculating this turnover reduction as this is a critical test to receive the subsidy and this calculation is likely to be reviewed by the ATO.

STEP 3. Are your Employees eligible?

  1. They must be permanent full time or part time employees at 1 March 2020 or a casual employee employed on 1 March 2020 (employed regularly for at least 12 months)
  2. Aged 16 years and over
  3. An Australian resident at 1 March 2020 (or have a permanent visa or subclass visa 444)
  4. All eligible employees must be included – you cannot “cherrypick” your employees
  5. Terminated employees after 1 March can be rehired and claimed for

STEP 4. If you are eligible Enrol from today Monday 20 April

1. Enrol on the ATO website from your Business Portal or Online Services with the ATO – you only need to do this once and do not worry you have until the end of May to enrol for the first 2 pay periods: 

  •  30 March to 12 April
  •  13 April to 26 April

2. If you don’t have access the ATO:

a. If you are a business (this includes trusts, partnerships or companies) you must set up your Business Portal (https://bp.ato.gov.au) through

b. If you are a sole trader you will use Online Services through 

All fun things to do!

3. Log on to your Portal and select Manage Employees – JobKeeper to enrol
Complete this form no later than 31 May with:

  • your entity details
  • your eligibility (turnover has fallen or likely to fall by 30%)
  • the number of employees eligible each April pay period
  • your contact and bank account details

4. Notify your employees you have nominated them

STEP 5. Complete the JobKeeper Nomination Forms by 30 April

1. Download and distribute the correct forms to your eligible employees or “business participants”

2. Ensure they agree to be nominated and forms returned to you by 30 April, these forms are kept on file in the event of an audit
3. Ensure the employee or participant is NOT claiming JobKeeper though another employer or entity, they need to nominate a primary employer or entity and cannot receive more than 1 JobKeeper payment

STEP 6. Pay wages

  1. You must pay a minimum amount of $1,500 a fortnight for each eligible employee and pay them for each period claimed. You must physically pay these amounts whether fortnightly or monthly. For the first 2 payments they can be paid late provided it is all paid by 30 April 2020 – we cannot stress enough if you pay any employee less than $1,500 you are no longer eligible for the subsidy
  2. Tax the payment as appropriate
  3. Pay applicable super
  4. You can claim for later periods when you become eligible. The scheme works on a fortnight to fortnight basis with the last period being 14 September to 27 September 2020

STEP 7. Subsidy to be paid to the Employer

  1. It will be paid to you, the employer, in arrears from May 2020 into your nominated bank account
  2. The ATO pays 14 days after the end of each calendar month
  3. This means you will have to fund all wage payments for up to a month or so, you have to ensure your cashflow will allow you to do this, if not contact your bank to assist you with this

STEP 8. Each month

1. Access the Business Portal or Online Services to claim after each pay period

  • If you have STP enabled software (with JobKeeper functionality) start reporting on 30 April
  • If you don’t you will have to enter details manually in the Portal from 4 May

(Have you registered for STP?? now is a good time!)

2. Identify your eligible employees with their details ie Name, TFN, DOB and paydates
3. Then complete a monthly JobKeeper Declaration report confirming your eligibility. You will need to reconfirm:

  • your eligible employees and/or “business participants”
  • update their details monthly. 
  • Advise if employees change or leave leave your employ
  • your currently monthly & projected turnover

4. You do no need to retest your reported turnover reduction, the turnover numbers are for information purposes only
5. Submit it and you will receive a confirmation

Some questions and comments

What if my employee earns less than $1,500?
If your employee earn less than $1,500 you must pay them the minimum of $1,500 to be eligible. If their normal salary or wages are more than $1,500 you continue to pay them their normal salary or wages

Do I have to participate in JobKeeper?
JobKeeper is not compulsory the employer can choose to participate in it

Do I have to pay employees on leave or have been stood down for JobKeeper?
Yes

Can I ask a stood down employee to return to work?
Yes if you have work for them

Does this apply to genuine contractors?
No they can claim themselves

Do I have to pay super on the $1,500 if an employee normally earns less than $1,500?
No – the Government is introducing rules to not require super to be paid on the difference

Can I change an employee’s hours of work or work duties?
You may be able to subject to recent COVID-19 legislative changes to the FairWork Act 2009

What if my turnover hasn’t decreased but you think it will next month?
You can claim as soon as the turnover test is met. But note JobKeeper is not backdated

Can I offset JobKeeper against an existing tax debt?
The ATO will not use JobKeeper to offset an already existing tax debt – it is intended to help employers pay their employees  

What we recommend

At this point in time you need up to date information (to review your cashflow, report to the ATO or talk to your bank) if you aren’t using a good software package such as Xero or MYOB we recommend you consider one.

Most businesses have STP enabled software but if you don’t now is the time to do it. It has not been compulsory for micro and closely held (mum & dad) businesses we recommend you obtain software like Xero to assist you. Xero has already come out with JobKeeper reporting software.

Finally, as always the ATO stresses that integrity measures apply in preventing employers from entering into artificial arrangements to obtain inappropriate access to payments. Penalties and further action will be taken for illegal benefits under such schemes.

We now attach detailed ATO Guides for further reading:
https://www.ato.gov.au/General/JobKeeper-Payment/JobKeeper-guides

Assistance

We hope that this assists you. We are here to help with navigating the Government Stimulus maze, providing financial assistance such as cash flows, bank applications or implementing new software.

If you have any questions we do not charge a fee for phone calls as previously mentioned. Please do not hesitate to contact me on 02 9816 3111 or 0420 219 269.

Find us online

Please find our previous Government Stimulus newsletters on our website
http://wunsch.com.au or email [email protected] who will forward them to you.

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