JobKeeper Payment Deadline
Employers wanting to enrol for the first two fortnights of the JobKeeper program have been granted an extension of time to do this and pay employees.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will now allow employers an enrolment extension to the end of this month (31 May 2020) from the previous deadline of 30 April.
Specifically, for the first two fortnights of the program that ran from 30 March to 12 April and from 13 April to 26 April, the ATO will now accept the late payments of the minimum of $1,500 per fortnight provided they were paid by 8 May.
This means the enrolment extension is available to employers who have made two payments of at least $1,500 by 8 May or a combined payment of at least $3,000.
How the arrangement works
The new arrangement will be welcomed particularly by employers who had trouble meeting the previous 30 April enrolment deadline, but it should be noted that in availing themselves of the offer, they should be reasonably confident payment was made to employees eligible for it.
If late payments for the first two fortnights of JobKeeper were not made by 8 May then employers won’t be reimbursed under the program and worse, their employees will be denied its benefits for these periods.
In other words, in such circumstances there would be an unnecessary double loss – a loss to both employer and employees – assuming all are eligible for the program’s benefits.
The extension is expected to help more than half a million businesses that have enrolled for JobKeeper or are seeking enrolment, while having made timely payments to more than three million employees.
It will also allow business owners further time to consider their circumstances and will remove cash flow pressures that might have arisen from a variety of financing arrangements not yet finalised.
But important obligations remain
It should be noted however that the extension in no way relieves business owners of their obligation to ensure they continue to pay eligible employees $1,500 in each JobKeeper fornight.
Businesses have until the end of this month to formally enrol with the JobKeeper program to claim payments.
However, Macks Advisory points out that the sooner business owners pay employees for last month and enrol with JobKeeper, the sooner the ATO can arrange reimbursement.
Public Accountants general manager of technical policy Tony Greco has issued a statement in which he commends major banks now “stepping up” with dedicated JobKeeper hotlines and providing bridging finance to businesses ahead of the ATO’s reimbursement.
He added: “It is pleasing to see the Tax Office adopt a flexible approach that will give employers added time to meet the program’s first payments, especially as there have been a lot dates flying around and this [news of the extension] could be lost in the translation. It’s a very simple message, but I think everyone is working at such a rate of knots that simple messages can
