JobKeeper Has Been Extended & New Rules Apply From 3rd of August 2020

In great news for small businesses and employees, JobKeeper has been extended and new rules have been introduced - some which may impact your business now.

Below we will look at the items you need to know now in relation to the new rules.

There are 3 main changes for JobKeeper:

1. Effective Immediately: More Of Your Employees Are Potentially Eligible For JobKeeper

The immediate change is that the ‘eligible employee date’ has been moved from 1^st of March to 1^st of July 2020, resulting in many businesses having more employees eligible for JobKeeper from the 3^rd of August 2020.

If you had part-time or full-time employees on the 1^st of July 2020 that were not previously eligible for JobKeeper, they will now be eligible.

Likewise, if the 1^st of July 2020 results in your casuals being employed by the business for a minimum of 12 months, they will now be eligible for JobKeeper, even if they were not eligible under the initial rules.

This change is effective for pay periods that end after the 3^rd of August 2020, so this will impact payroll processing immediately. If any employees are paid less than $1,500 per fortnight, they will need to be topped up to $1,500 to be eligible.

From a payroll processing point of view, you will also need to enrol the employee within your payroll software. Please select Fortnight 10 as the start date for JobKeeper for these new employees in your STP enabled payroll software.  For instructions on how to enrol employees in JobKeeper in Xero, please click this link  Enrol employees for JobKeeper payments

2. JobKeeper Extended Past 28^th of September 2020 With A Relaxed Turnover Test:

JobKeeper has been extended for the December 2020 and March 2021 quarters. In order to receive JobKeeper post 28^th September 2020, new tests must be passed by the business.

To qualify for JobKeeper in the December 2020 quarter, businesses will need to demonstrate a decline of 30% in turnover in the September 2020 BAS compared with September 2019. This means that businesses that had experienced a rebound before the stage 4 restrictions won’t be penalised.  This is welcome news for many of our clients.

In order to receive JobKeeper in the March 2021 quarter, the business will need to demonstrate a decline of 30% in both the September 2020 and December 2020 BAS’s compared to the same quarters in 2019.

Additionally, the only turnover test is the ‘actual GST turnover’ based on your quarterly turnover reported on your BAS’s. There is no ability to predict turnover or use monthly turnover assessments post 28^th September 2020.

3. Reduced JobKeeper Payments AFTER 28th September 2020

If your business passes the above new turnover tests to receive JobKeeper post 28^th of September, the JobKeeper rates have been reduced as follows:-

 
From 28th of September 2020 to 3rd of January 2021, the JobKeeper Payment rates will be:

• $1,200 per fortnight for all eligible employees who were working in the business for 20 hours or more a week on average in the 4 weeks before either 1st of March 2020 or 1st of July 2020.
• $750 per fortnight for other eligible employees and business participants who were working in the business for less than 20 hours a week on average in the 4 weeks before either 1st of March 2020 or 1st of July 2020.

 
From 4th of January 2021 to 28th of March 2021, the JobKeeper Payment rates will be:

•  $1,000 per fortnight for all eligible employees who were working in the business for 20 hours or more a week on average in the 4 weeks before either 1st of March 2020 or 1st of July 2020.

• $650 per fortnight for other eligible employees and business participants who were working in the business for less than 20 hours  a week on average in the 4 weeks before either 1st of March 2020 or 1st of July 2020.

Important note:

If you are not currently registered for JobKeeper but the new lockdown conditions will result in a 30% reduction in your business turnover, please call your accountant immediately to discuss your eligibility.  You may still be able to apply for August and September 2020.

We really understand the impacts this second wave has had on businesses and the reintroduction of Stage 3 and the move to Stage 4 restrictions will impact almost every business in both Metropolitan Melbourne and Regional Victoria. Small business owners have shown their resilience and ability to overcome the obstacles that COVID-19 has thrown at them. We will get through this with the support of Government, banks, landlords and our support networks. If you are worried that you or your business will not get through this lockdown, we want to be your first point of call. We are here to support you and will do everything in our power to get you through this.

Stay strong and stay safe,

The Suntax Team