JobKeeper Payment Enrolment is Open

A key milestone in the JobKeeper Payment program started on Monday 20^th April, with the official enrolment for the JobKeeper Payment program opening up to Employers. Enrolment is easily accessed through the ATO’s Business Portal for those with myGovID set-up. To make it simple for Morrows clients, we are able to offer enrolment on your behalf and will manage the initial assessment actions (as listed below) and ongoing reporting requirements, using our JobKeeper assistance service.

Employers should undertake the following actions prior to enrolling:

• Confirm their eligibility under the ‘Basic Test’, in that they have experienced, or are projected to experience a 30% drop in revenue when compared to the corresponding period a year prior.
• Confirm which of their employees are eligible for the payment.
• Ensure eligible employees have returned ‘Employee Nomination Forms’ indicating whether or not they agree to be nominated for the payment by the employer.
• Determine if there is a relevant director, shareholder or beneficiary that is eligible for the payment under the business participation allowance. Please note that many businesses will have scope to claim for an additional reimbursement under this allowance.

The enrolment form can then be completed, which requires the above information for processing. If you are unsure of any details or want further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Timeline

• Thursday, April 30 – Employee Nomination forms are to be returned by eligible employees to their employers.
• Thursday, April 30 – Enrolment for the first month’s reimbursement payment closes. Late applications will be accepted until May 31, however JobKeeper reimbursements from the ATO are expected to be delayed.
• Thursday, April 30 – Deadline to update each eligible employee’s record in their payroll software and to lodge wage payments for the first two ‘JobKeeper Fortnights’ within April, (if using Single Touch Payroll enabled software).
• Monday, May 4 – Deadline to report the TFN and date of birth of each eligible employee through the ATO’s Business Portal, or through the Morrows JobKeeper assistance service, (if not using Single Touch Payroll enabled software).
• Monday, May 4 – Applications for the month of April’s reimbursement payment can be made through the ATO’s Business Portal, or through Morrows JobKeeper assistance service.
• Thursday, May 7 – Deadline to report April GST turnover to the ATO through the JobKeeper Declaration, accessible through the Business Portal or through Morrows JobKeeper assistance service.

Further Clarifications – ‘One in – All in’

The ATO has confirmed that if an employer decides to participate in the JobKeeper Payment program, they must nominate all of their eligible employees. They cannot choose to nominate only some of their employees.

However, an employee can choose not to participate, by not agreeing to be nominated for the payment. An employee would do this by answering “No, I do not agree to be nominated by the employer” on page 2 of the Employee Nomination form. If you are not nominating an otherwise eligible employee, please ensure they have made this declaration on the form and that you retain the signed form for substantiation purposes.

Of course, not being able to selectively offer the payment to employees may have significant cash flow implications for employers. Please contact your Morrows Business Advisor if you have concerns about this.

Outstanding Issues – ‘Alternative’ Test

Legislation has now passed which clarifies alternative eligibility criteria for employers that the basic revenue test is not appropriate for. These include businesses that have only recently commenced trading and businesses that have had significant changes in their structure or operations when compared to the relevant prior period.

The legislation provides seven alternative bases to satisfy the decline in turnover test that can be used. These are only applicable when the Commissioner is satisfied that there is not an appropriate relevant comparison period to satisfy the decline in turnover test.

There are alternative bases for the following scenarios:

• The business has commenced in the last 12 months
• There was a business acquisition or disposal that changed the entity’s turnover
• A business restructure changed the entity’s turnover
• The business had a substantial increase in turnover
• The business was affected by drought or natural disaster
• It is a business with irregular turnover
• For sole trader and small partnerships (four or fewer individual partners) impacted by sickness, injury or leave

The application process remains the same as the basic test, however the criteria for self-assessing your business’ eligibility is dependent on which alternative base you self-assess under.

For advice on how your business may be eligible for JobKeeper under the alternative bases, please contact your advisor on how our Morrows JobKeeper assistance service can service you through the application process.