JobKeeper Benefits For Businesses Owners

The global lock-down due to the COVID19 pandemic has forced many businesses to temporarily shut their operations. As a result, a large chunk of businesses are fighting to save their existence. There is hardly any income generation for these firms and the employees dependent on such firms are also enduring tough conditions.

The Australian Government has shown interest in reviving such entities by providing them with financial support in this time of crisis. If you are an employer, you can benefit your business with the grants offered by the Federal Government. The following points will help in learning how to approach the administration.

Job Keeper Payment

The scheme is administered by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and is aimed at empowering eligible employers who employ staff to pay their employees under the guidelines stipulated by the ATO. The first step is to register your business for the grants and after the approval; the government will provide $1500 per fortnight per employee until 27 September 2020. The eligibility criterion must be fulfilled by both the employers and the employees.

The amount of $1500 per employee per fortnight will be reimbursed to the employer by the government. If your business does not have employees and is run by self, even then you are eligible for one JobKeeper payment of $1500 per fortnight. Sole traders, partnership firms, trusts or companies are entitled for the schemes under business participation entitlement.

Eligibility Criteria

The prime criterion for the entitlement is that you should be an eligible entity having an eligible business participation. Your business must fulfill the following objectives to be eligible under this scheme:

  • Businesses must be in existence as of 1 March 2020 in Australia.
  • Businesses should have employed at least one eligible employee in your business as of 01 March 2020. The eligible employees of your business should be currently employed with you to be eligible for the fortnight claims.
  • Businesses should have faced a 30% fall in the overall turnover for an amount of $1 billion or less, 50% fall for turnover more than $1 billion, or 15% fall for ACNC-registered charities.

The mode of operation is different for different types of business and the entitlement for the JobKeeper Payment depends on the following:

  • In the case of a sole trader, the sole owner of the business is nominated to receive the JobKeeper Payment.
  • For a partnership firm, only one partner is eligible to be nominated to receive the JobKeeper Payment.
  • In the case of a company, any of the directors can be nominated to collect the JobKeeper payment.
  • For the business having shareholders who receive dividends instead of wages, any one of the shareholders can be designated to collect the JobKeeper Payment.
  • In case of trust, any of the individual beneficiaries can be designated to collect the JobKeeper Payment.

01 March 2020 is the base to calculate the eligibility of the employers and their employees. You will receive the first payment in the first week of May 2020 for the subsidy started in March 2020. You will get the reimbursement sooner if you carry out the monthly declarations between the 1st and 14th of each month.

For more information regarding the above grants and any other assistance program, please speak to one of our advisors today.









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