Within days of the Jobkeeper 2.0 announcement, adjustments to expand the eligibility criteria for JKP have been made. Now referred to as ‘JobKeeper 3.0’, these changes are primarily in the wake of the tougher COVID-19 restrictions recently imposed in Victoria.
The adjustments contained in JobKeeper 3.0 will apply nationwide and include these crucial changes to details in our last update:
Adjustments to employee eligibility
From 3 August 2020, the relevant date of employment (which is used to determine an employee’s eligibility to JKPs) will move from 1 March 2020 to 1 July 2020. This is designed to increase employee eligibility for both the existing JKP scheme, as well as for the new extension periods from 28 September 2020. Casual employees will still be required to have been employed on a regular and systematic basis for a minimum of 12 months (as is required under the existing JKP scheme).
Adjustments to the ‘Decline in Turnover Test’
To qualify for the JKP in the extension periods, businesses will now only have to demonstrate that their actual GST turnovers have significantly decreased in the previous quarter under JobKeeper 3.0.
For these purposes, the applicable rate of decline in turnover required to qualify for JobKeeper 3.0 is determined in accordance with the existing rules (i.e., 50% for entities with an aggregated turnover of more than $1 billion, 30% for entities with an aggregated turnover of $1 billion or less and 15% for ACNC-registered charities).
Specifically, to be eligible for the JKP Extension Period 1 (i.e., from 28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021), businesses only need to demonstrate a significant decline in turnover in the September 2020 quarter (whereas under the previously announced JobKeeper 2.0, they would have been required to show that they had suffered a significant decline in turnover in both the June and September 2020 quarters).
To be eligible for the JKP Extension Period 2 (i.e., from 4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021) businesses only need to demonstrate a significant decline in turnover in the December 2020 quarter (whereas under the previously announced JobKeeper 2.0, they would have been required to show that they had suffered a significant decline in turnover in each of the June, September and December 2020 quarters).
Importantly, the dual payment rate system originally proposed in JobKeeper 2.0 will remain, with the full rate of payment decreasing from $1,500 to $1,200 per fortnight from 28 September 2020 and then to $1,000 per fortnight from 4 January 2021. The proposed reduced rates (being $750 from 28 September 2020 and $650 from 4 January 2021) will also remain for employees and business participants who worked fewer than 20 hours per week in the relevant period.
To be legislated
All of the information described above has still to be passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The next Parliament sitting is 24 August 2020, therefore it could be early September before we have firm details of how all this will work.
For more details
Core Business Accountants are business advice specialists and our team is across all the Coronavirus Stimulus payments which may be available to your business.
Don’t hesitate to contact us on 5438 8088 should you require any information, guidance or clarification.
Please click the link for our complete Jobkeeper 2.0 overview.
For further information please follow the links to the Treasury facts sheets which provide extremely good Case Studies & examples:
Extension of the JobKeeper Payment (21 July 2020) https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-07/Fact_sheet-JobKeeper_Payment_extension_0.pdf
JobKeeper Payment: Changes to the Fair Work Act (21 July 2020)
https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-07/Fact_sheet-Changes_to_Fair_Work_Act.pdf
