GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES NEW JOBKEEPER PAYMENT

Lowe Lippmann Chartered Accountants

GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES NEW JOBKEEPER PAYMENT

The Federal Government announced yesterday another assistance program to help businesses and employees who have been (or will be) impacted financially by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The JobKeeper Payment will be made available to businesses, in the form of a subsidy from the Government, to assist them to continue paying their employees. For employees, this should mean they can keep their job and earn an income, even if their hours have been cut.

The JobKeeper Payment is a temporary subsidy program (for up to 6 months) open to businesses and the self-employed, and will provide $1,500 per fortnight per employee .

The program will be managed by the Australian Taxation Office ( ATO ) and details will be verified via the Single Touch Payroll ( STP ) payroll reporting system.

Eligible Employers

Employers will be eligible for the subsidy if:

their business has a turnover of less than $1 billion and their turnover will be reduced by more than 30 per cent relative to a comparable period a year ago (of at least a month),

their business has a turnover of $1 billion or more and their turnover will be reduced by more than 50 per cent relative to a comparable period a year ago (of at least a month), and

The (large) business is not subject to the Major Bank Levy.

The Employer must have been in an employment relationship with eligible employees as at 1 March 2020, and the Employer will need to confirm that each eligible employee is currently engaged in order to receive JobKeeper Payments.

Not-for-profit entities (including charities) and self-employed individuals (businesses without employees) that meet the turnover tests that apply for businesses are eligible to apply for JobKeeper Payments.

Eligible employees

Eligible employees are employees who:

are currently employed by the eligible Employer (including those stood down or re-hired);

were employed by the Employer at 1 March 2020;

are full-time, part-time, or long-term casuals (ie. casual employed on a regular basis for longer than 12 months as at 1 March 2020);

are at least 16 years of age;

are an Australian citizen, the holder of a permanent visa, a Protected Special Category Visa Holder, a non-protected Special Category Visa Holder who has been residing continually in Australia for 10 years or more, or a Special Category (Subclass 444) Visa Holder; or

are not in receipt of a JobKeeper Payment from another employer.

If your employees receive the JobKeeper Payment, this may affect their eligibility for payments from Services Australia (such as Centrelink) and those employees will need to report their JobKeeper Payment as income.

Payment Process

Eligible employers will be paid $1,500 per fortnight per eligible employee . Eligible employees will receive, at a minimum, $1,500 per fortnight, before tax, and employers are able to top-up the payment.

Where employers participate in the scheme, their employees will receive this payment as follows.

If an employee ordinarily receives $1,500 or more in income per fortnight before tax, they will continue to receive their regular income according to their prevailing workplace arrangements. The JobKeeper Payment will assist their employer to continue operating by subsidising all or part of the income of their employee(s).

If an employee ordinarily receives less than $1,500 in income per fortnight before tax, their employer must pay their employee, at a minimum, $1,500 per fortnight, before tax.

If an employee has been stood down, their employer must pay their employee, at a minimum, $1,500 per fortnight, before tax.

If an employee was employed on 1 March 2020, subsequently ceased employment with their employer, and then has been re-engaged by the same eligible employer, the employee will receive, at a minimum, $1,500 per fortnight, before tax.

In circumstances where an employee has been retrenched since 1 March 2020 and is now being re-engaged by their Employer, the parties may need to consider if any leave entitlements etc. were paid out, and an adjustment or reversal may need to be made in this regard.

The JobKeeper Payment does include a superannuation guarantee component . It will be up to the employer if they want to pay superannuation on any additional wage paid (above the $1,500 per fortnight) JobKeeper Payment.

Payments will be made to the employer monthly in arrears by the ATO, and the first payment will be back-dated to 1 March 2020 for all eligible employees and should be paid by the ATO in the first week of May 2020.

Timing

The subsidy will start on 30 March 2020, with the first payments to be received by Employers in the first week of May 2020. All payments will be made to the employer monthly in arrears by the ATO.

Businesses will be able to register via the ATO website ( www.ato.gov.au ) from today to participate in the JobKeeper Payment program.

Businesses with employees will need to take the following steps to access the JobKeeper Payment program, and the eligible Employers will need to:

Apply for the program by means of an online application.

Identify eligible employees for JobKeeper Payments and provide monthly updates to the ATO.

Ensure eligible employees will receive, at a minimum, $1,500 per fortnight, before tax.

It will be up to the Employer if they want to pay superannuation on any additional wage paid (above the $1,500 per fortnight) JobKeeper Payment.

Businesses without employees (such as the self-employed), will need to take the following steps to access the JobKeeper Payment program, and will need to:

Provide an ABN for their business, nominate an individual to receive the payment, provide that individual's Tax File Number ( TFN ), and provide a declaration as to recent downturn in business activity (ie. turnover reduced by more than 30%).

Provide a monthly update to the ATO to declare their continued eligibility for the JobKeeper Payments, and any payment from the ATO will be made monthly to the individual's bank account.

Eligible businesses can apply for the payment online and are able to register their interest via the ATO website ( www.ato.gov.au ) today. After you have registered your interest with the ATO to participate, if you require any assistance to complete the registration application, please contact your Lowe Lippmann advisor.

We expect more specific details will become available shortly, as the announcement was only made yesterday. We will bring you more details as soon as they become available.

Please do not hesitate to contact your Lowe Lippmann Relationship Partner if you wish to discuss any of these matters further.

< Older Post

Newer Post >

Audit Lowe Down – Costs incurred in acquiring / forming a business

September 9, 2025

Costs incurred in acquiring / forming a business. Further to the recent blog about capitalisation of costs when acquiring an asset, we have received a number of questions in relation to costs incurred in setting up / purchasing a business. Formation costs on establishing a business: These costs would include: Incorporation fees ASIC registration fees Legal fees Business name registration Pre-operating costs Pre-opening costs. The relevant standard for these costs is AASB 138 Intangible Assets and paragraph 69a confirms that these start-up costs are expensed when incurred. There is no identifiable asset controlled by the entity when the costs are incurred as the entity does not exist. Business acquisition costs These costs would include: Legal and accounting fees Due diligence and valuation costs Stamp duty Advisory or brokerage fees Project management costs related to the acquisition Internal costs allocated to the transaction In contrast to the asset acquisition discussed previously, AASB 3 Business Combinations requires all acquisition costs to be expensed as incurred. This means that they are not included as part of the consideration paid and therefore do not affect calculated goodwill. Entities purchasing businesses should be aware that these costs are not able to be capitalised as they can often be substantial, and purchasers often do not expect the costs to be taken directly to the income statement

Practice Update – September 2025

September 8, 2025

ATO to include tax 'debts on hold' in taxpayer account balances From August 2025, the Australian Taxation Office ( ATO ) is progressively including 'debts on hold' in relevant taxpayer ATO account balances. A 'debt on hold' is an outstanding tax debt where the ATO has previously paused debt collection actions. Tax debts will generally be placed on hold where the ATO decides it is not cost effective to collect the debt at the time. The ATO is currently required by law to offset such 'debts on hold' against any refunds or credits the taxpayer is entitled to. The difficulty with these debts is that the ATO has not traditionally recorded them on taxpayer's ATO account balances. Taxpayers with 'debts on hold' of $100 or more will receive (or their tax agent will receive) a letter before it is added to their ATO account balance (which can be viewed in the ATO's online services or the statement of account). Taxpayers with a 'debt on hold' of less than $100 will not receive a letter, but the debt will be included in their ATO account balance. The ATO has advised it will remit the general interest charge ( GIC ) that is applied to 'debts on hold' for periods where they have not been included in account balances. This means that taxpayers have not been charged GIC for this period. The ATO will stop remitting GIC six months from the day the taxpayer's 'debt on hold' is included in their account balance. After this, GIC will start to apply.

Audit Lowe Down – How do we account for the costs incurred when acquiring an asset?

August 26, 2025

How do we account for the costs incurred when acquiring an asset? When we acquire an asset such as property, plant and equipment, intangibles or inventory there are often significant other costs incurred as part of the purchase process, including delivery, stamp duty, installation fees. Whether we capitalise these to the value of the asset or expense them as incurred can make a significant difference to an entity’s reported position or performance. Since we have accounting standards for specific assets, the treatment can vary depending on the asset and the relevant standard. A summary of some common expenses and their treatment under four accounting standards has been included below. The four standards considered are: AASB 102 Inventories AASB 116 Property, Plant and Equipment AASB 138 Intangible Assets AASB 140 Investment Property.