Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg have announced that the JobKeeper payment will be extended by 6 months to 28 March 2021.
The current $1,500 per fortnight JobKeeper payment will be reduced to $1,200 per fortnight from 28 September, and $750 per fortnight for employees working less than 20 hours a week.
From 4 January 2021, the rate will again fall to $1,000 per fortnight, and $650 for people working less than 20 hours a week.
New eligibility tests will be introduced from 28 September.
Does the new announcement change the current position?
The Government announcement does not impact JobKeeper payments until after 28 September 2020.
Businesses can still apply for JobKeeper payments at any time until the program closes provided they satisfy the decline in turnover test.
New Eligibility Tests
There are new eligibility tests for businesses looking to remain on JobKeeper beyond September.
Businesses with turnovers of $1 billion or less will still need to demonstrate a 30 per cent reduction in turnover.
However, the government will now require businesses to demonstrate that they have suffered an ongoing significant decline in turnover using actual GST turnover, rather than projected GST turnover.
From 28 September, businesses will be required to show an actual decline in turnover for both the June and September quarters to qualify for the JobKeeper payment in the December quarter.
Summary of findings – Treasury’s 3 Month Review of JobKeeper
- Over 960,000 entities have enrolled for JobKeeper covering 3.5 Million workers
- As of 15 July, $29.8 billion worth of payments have been made, out of the $70 billion estimate
- Business that enrolled in the program suffered an average decline in turnover in April of 37% compared to the same period last year
- Up to 1 in 4 of the 3.5 million workers currently covered by the program are earning $550 more than they would ordinarily
- Treasury expects the new eligibility rules will see the number of people currently covered ie. 3.5 million reduce to:
- 1.4 million for the December 2020 quarter
- 1 million for the March 2021 quarter
Contact our office
Please contact us if you have any queries regarding your ongoing eligibility or any other JobKeeper queries.
Kind Regards,
Eric Cirulis
Director/CEO