The Government has announced that JobKeeper will be extended beyond September in a limited capacity. Read here to learn how you might qualify for JobKeeper post-September.
If you operate a small businesses which has actually suffered a 30% or more reduction in sales compared to the same quarter last year, then you might qualify for what some are calling “JobKeeper 2.0”.
What you need to do in the first week of October
You need to check if:
1. Your actual GST turnover in the June 2020 quarter (April, May and June 2020) had declined by 30% or more compared to the June 2019 quarter;
AND
2. Your actual GST turnover in the September quarter (July, August and September 2020) had declined by 30% or more compared to the September 2019 quarter.
If so, you should be able to continue to qualify for JobKeeper. That is, provided you continue to meet all the other conditions, such as paying employees the minimum required fortnightly payment, you should be able to claim JobKeeper in arrears from the ATO each month.
Very importantly, the JobKeeper payment rate is changing.
JobKeeper will reduce.
Between October and December, the JobKeeper subsidy will no longer be $1,500 per employee/business participant per fortnight. Instead, there are two rates:
- For eligible employees and business participants who worked 20 hours or more per week on average in February 2020, the JobKeeper rate is $1,200 per fortnight.
- For eligible employees and business participants who worked less than 20 hours per week on average in February 2020, the rate is $750 per fortnight.
In circumstances where hours worked in February 2020 were not representative of an employee’s/business participant’s usual hours of work (e.g. they were on leave), the ATO will introduce alternative tests. These have not yet been released.
And it changes again in January 2021!
In the first week of January, you need to check if:
- Your actual GST turnover in the December 2020 quarter (October, November and December 2020) had declined by 30% or more compared to the December 2019 quarter;
AND
- Your actual GST turnover in the September quarter (July, August and September 2020) had declined by 30% or more compared to the September 2019 quarter;
AND
- Your actual GST turnover in the June 2020 quarter (April, May and June 2020) had declined by 30% or more compared to the June 2019 quarter.
If so, then you should be able to continue to receive JobKeeper over January, February and March 2021. Again, this is subject to you meeting all the other conditions, such as the fortnightly wage payment.
The JobKeeper rate will reduce once again.
Between January and March 2021, the two JobKeeper rates will reduce as follows:
- For eligible employees and business participants who worked 20 hours or more per week on average in February 2020, the JobKeeper rate will be reduced from January to $1,000 per fortnight.
- For eligible employees and business participants who worked less than 20 hours per week on average in February 2020, the reduced rate from January will be $650 per fortnight.
Again, the ATO will introduce alternative tests for employees and business participants with unusual hours worked in February 2020.
At the conclusion of the fortnight ending 28 March 2021 JobKeeper will cease.
What to do now?
We recommend you compare your actual June 2020 quarterly turnover to your June 2019 quarterly turnover. This will let you know if your turnover was down at least 30%, which is one condition in order to potentially extend JobKeeper beyond September. If turnover was not down by 30% or more across the June quarter, then you can start preparing your business for the end of your JobKeeper entitlements in September.
If turnover was down by at least 30% in the June 2020 quarter, then we also recommend you forecast now what your September 2020 quarter turnover is likely to be and check if that is going to be down by 30% compared to the September 2019 quarter. If it’s not likely to meet this condition, then you should start planning for the end of your Jobkeeper entitlements in September also.
Contact us for help
The JobKeeper rules can be quite complex and in some cases you may need to rely upon the ATO’s discretion to access JobKeeper. To obtain professional assistance from the accountants that brought you the Complete Guide to the JobKeeper Subsidy, contact us on (08) 94275200 or digital@munros.com.au or submit an enquiry here.
