COVID-19 JobKeeper Payment Scheme Now Law

The Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus (Payments & Benefits), Appropriation Bill (No6) 2019-2020, commonly called ‘JobKeeper Payment Scheme’ has passed both Parliament Houses on 8 April 2020. Royal Assent was then received on 9 April 2020.

The JobKeeper Scheme aims at providing financial support to eligible businesses so employers and employees can continue to stay connected whilst some businesses may have to move to hibernation during the Coronavirus crisis. This measure is estimated to cost the Australian Government $130 billion over the estimated period.

The Bill gives the Treasurer the power to set up how the JobKeeper Payment Scheme is to operate.

Over the past week, the ATO has been publishing details on how they plan to administer and control the JobKeeper Payment Scheme.

The JobKeeper Payment Scheme will provide a fortnightly wage subsidy of $1,500 to eligible employers, starting from Monday 30 March 2020 for a maximum of 6 months.

As part of the Coronavirus Economic Response plan, the JobKeeper subsidy is another measure to support employers falling into a difficult situation, however, unlike the Cash Flow Boost the subsidy has implications on other tax liabilities. These have been covered in detail in another blog on this page.

Enrolments start on Monday 20 April 2020, with very tight deadlines imposed to both employers and employees to:

• submit paperwork;
• complete eligibility tests
  (some of them whose details have not yet been disclosed);
• process Employee Top-Up Payments.

The deadline to complete the above tasks and guarantee payment eligibility is Thursday 30 April 2020.

Disclaimer

This blog and attached resources are of general nature designed for informational and educational purposes only. They should not be construed as professional financial advice for your individual business. Should you need such advice, consult a licensed financial or tax advisor.