Enrolling for JobKeeper
With daily Government announcements (or what really feels more like hourly ones) this is our new go to spot for all things JobKeeper enrollment!
So, once you have establised your business is eligable for the JobKeeper payments – where to now???
Quick rehash – JobKeeper Payment Overview
JobKeeper is a Federal Government subsidy paid to eligible businesses effected by COVID-19 to cover the costs of their employee’s wages.
Affected employers will be able to claim a fortnightly subsidy payment of $1,500 per eligible employee from 30 March 2020, for a maximum period of 6 months. This full amount of $1,500 must then be paid to all eligible employees, whether they are full time, part time or casuals.
Here is a brief summary of how the JobKeeper payments are made:
- Paid by the ATO within 14 days of month end.
- First payment will be on 1 May 2020.
- Eligible payroll periods are every 14 days, commencing 30 March 2020.
- Monthly employer payroll reporting is required to trigger the payment by the ATO – using STP
The employer will continue to receive the subsidy payments for eligible employees while they are eligible for the payments. While the program is expected to run for 6 months, payments will stop if the employee is no longer employed by the business.
Business Participation Entitlement
Sole traders and some other entities (such as partnerships, trusts or companies) may be entitled to the JobKeeper Payment scheme under the business participation entitlement. A limit applies of one $1,500 JobKeeper payment per fortnight for one eligible business participant. Sole traders, one partner in a partnership, one beneficiary of a trust, and one director or shareholder of a company may be regarded as an eligible business participant.
How to Enrol
If you are a business – you can use the business portal to enrol. If you haven’t set it up yet, log onto https://bp.ato.gov.au/ to create your business portal. You will need to set up your myGovID first.
As a sole trader, you can enroll through your myGov account, once you have linked the ATO as a service.
Alternatively, we can enrol you through our tax agent portal.
Key Dates:
- 4th May 2020 – apply for JobKeeper payments using ATO online services
- 8th May 2020 – last date first two fortnightly payments for April 2020 need to be made by
- 31st May 2020 – enrol for initial JobKeeper payments (first two April fortnights ending 12th and 26th April) – later date ones can be applied for at a later date
- 7th day of each month – lodge Monthly JobKeeper declaration form to the ATO
For more information on JobKeeper click here.
