The Federal Government has announced that the JobKeeper scheme will be extended until 28th March 2021 albeit with tighter eligibility requirements and lower rates.
The new JobKeeper scheme 2.0 will cost $16 billion, bringing the total cost of the JobKeeper program to $86 billion.
These changes will not impact entities that are currently eligible for JobKeeper payments up to 27 September 2020.
As of 28 September 2020, the JobKeeper payment will reduce for both full-time and part-time workers.
For those who work more than 20 hours per week, the fortnightly JobKeeper payment will reduce from $1500 to $1200 as at the 28th September 2020, further reducing to $1000 from the 4th of January 2021.
For those who work less than 20 hours per week, the fortnightly JobKeeper payment will reduce to $750 from the 28th of September, reducing further to $650 from the 4th of January next year.
Eligibility Criteria
JobKeeper 2.0 will require employers to meet the current JobKeeper eligibility tests and reassess their eligibility applying the decline in turnover tests using actual GST turnover, rather than projected GST :
Businesses with turnover of up to $1 billion will need to prove turnover has decreased by at least 30 percent from pre-pandemic levels of business to remain eligible for the JobKeeper scheme.
Businesses with turnover that exceeds $1 billion will need to show a 50 per cent decline from pre-pandemic levels of business to remain eligible for the scheme.
To be eligible for the first JobKeeper extension payments relating to 28 September to 3 January 2021, businesses will be required to show an actual decline in turnover for the June and September quarters to qualify compared to comparable period (e.g the corresponding quarters in 2019).
To be eligible for the second JobKeeper extension payments relating to 4 January to 28 March 2021, businesses will need to reassess their turnover to demonstrate that they have met the decline in turnover test for each of the June, September and December 2020 quarters compared to comparable period (e.g. the corresponding quarters in 2019).
Currently there has been no indication as to whether these schemes will extend beyond March 2021 however this has not been ruled out by the Federal Government if Covid-19 continues to significantly impact the Australian economy.
We will be providing more updates when further detail is released.
If you have any queries or would like some guidance with the JobKeeper scheme please contact the team at Baskin Clarke Priest.