As the heading says, the JobKeeper Payment scheme enrolment has now opened, and the process has taken shape quite rapidly over the course of the last few days. Initially there were a few teething issues, but they appear to have now all been ironed out.
While for some businesses assessing eligibility has been relatively straightforward, there has also been quite a few businesses we have closely supported through this process. There has also been circumstances in which a business may seem not to qualify, yet there have been alternative eligibility criteria which we were able to provide for the basis of applying. As always, we are here to help you with this.
In this process, please be aware that incorrectly claiming the JobKeeper payment could leave your business with the obligation to repay the JobKeeper benefit received, even though it has been paid to the employee. There also can be penalties for improperly obtaining JobKeeper benefits.
Here is the important information you NEED TO KNOW right now…
If you are an eligible employer (please refer back to our previous posts in relation to this point), the course of action for you is as follows:
Before commencing the actual enrolment, please:
Check and confirm that you meet the eligibility requirements (contact us if you are not sure or need assistance)
Check your employees meet the eligibility requirements
Re-hire or re-engage any stood down or terminated employees, and commence paying them again, if you want to claim the JobKeeper payment for them
Continue to pay AT LEAST $1,500 per fortnight to each eligible employee per JobKeeper fortnight (NB: the JobKeeper fortnight has been defined as very specific fortnights – check your pays against the dates correctly – the first fortnight was 30 March to 12 April)
Notify all your eligible employees that you are intending to claim the JobKeeper Payment on their behalf, and confirm they are not claiming the payment through another employer
Send the JobKeeper employee nomination notice to all your nominated and eligible employees, and make sure it is returned to you before the end of April
Step 1 - Enrol for the JobKeeper Payment
This very important step can be completed either by yourself through the Business Portal, or by us through our Tax Agent Portal.
The process is fairly straightforward, where you complete some basic details such as:
Confirming the month that your reduction in turnover occurred (or will occur)
Confirming that the reduction in turnover is (or will be) more than 30% compared to the relevant period
Entering the number of eligible employees who have been or will be remunerated $1,500 or more for each fortnight in the first month (April for a March or April reduction in turnover)
Entering your bank account details for receipt of the payment
Enrolment should be completed by the end of April to avoid delay in payment
Step 2 - Identify and Maintain your Eligible Employees
You need to separately identify each eligible employee and maintain their details each month. We will focus here on those of you that pay your employees through STP enabled software. This should be most of you as this is mandatory for most businesses from 1 July 2019.
If you have STP enabled payroll software, you can identify your employees in one of the following ways:
- Directly into your STP enabled payroll software if it is updated with JobKeeper functionality
If you have MYOB AccountRight, please see MYOB AccountRight JobKeeper Instructions
If you have MYOB Essentials, please see MYOB Essentials JobKeeper Instructions
If you have Xero, please see Xero JobKeeper Enrolment Instructions
If you need any help, please get in touch!
- Through the Business Portal if your STP enabled payroll software is not updated with JobKeeper functionality
If you have 200 employees or less, log in to the Business Portal and select employee details that are prefilled from your STP pay reports
If you have more than 200 employees, you can manually create a pay report, and either ask the ATO for a prefilled JobKeeper report, or use the JobKeeper Payment Guide Blank File to produce your own JobKeeper report and provide it back to the ATO by uploading via the business portal
If you don’t have STP enabled payroll software, there is a manual process similar to the above. If you have 40 employees or less, you can manually enter their details directly in the Business Portal, and if you have over 40 employees you can generate and upload a file using the JobKeeper Payment Guide Blank File.
Step 3 - Make a Business Monthly Declaration
Each month (covering April to September), you must reconfirm your reported eligible employees. If any ineligible employees change or leave your employment, you will need to notify the ATO thought this monthly declaration report.
You will also need to provide your current and projected GST Turnover. It is important to note that this is not a re-testing of your eligibility to the payment. Once you qualify as eligible once, you are eligible for the rest of the period, regardless of what happens to your business turnover (provided you keep paying your employees of course).
Summary and Key Dates
To summarise the above, and let you know some key date information, read on…
From 20th April: Enrol for the JobKeeper Payment.
By 30th April: Enrol your employees (through your STP enabled software – see above links to guides) to claim JobKeeper payments for April.
From 4th May: Log on to the Business Portal, make your monthly declarations for April and claim your first payment.
Each Month: Reconfirm eligibility.
We appreciate the confidence and trust you place in us. We are here to help, if you have any questions in relation to the JobKeeper process please contact our office.
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