Support for Australian businesses and sole traders

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The Government has announced a new measure to support Australian businesses, employees and sole traders. The JobKeeper Payment aims to support businesses to maintain their income and connection with employees. These connections will enable businesses to reactivate their operations quickly after the crisis is over.

The JobKeeper Payment

Eligible businesses will be able to claim $1,500 from March 30th, per fortnight per eligible employee for a maximum of 6 months. Payments will flow from the first week of May but will be backdated to March 30th.

Who is eligible?

The Jobkeeper Payment will be available to full-time workers, part-time workers, sole traders and casual workers (casual workers must be employed on a regular basis for longer than 12 months as at 1 March 2020. Eligibility is as follows:

• Your business has a turnover of less than $1 billion and you can demonstrate it will be reduced by more than 30% relative to a comparable period a year ago (of at least a month).
• Your business has a turnover of over $1 billion or more and you can demonstrate it will be reduced by more than 50% relative to a comparable period a year ago (of at least a month).
• Employers must have been in an employment relationship with eligible employees as at 1 March 2020. Businesses will be required to keep the employee on their books in order to distribute the payment.
• Employees must be Australian citizens or holders of a permanent or special category visa, such as subclass 444. They must also be 16 years of age or older and not already receiving the JobKeeper payment from another employer.

Note: The JobKeeper Payment must be reported as income. If you are a non-employing sole trader this payment may affect your eligibility for payments from Services Australia.

What do I do next?

Eligible businesses can apply to the ATO and you will need to provide a monthly update, including the number of eligible employees employed by the business.

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Talk to us about The JobKeeper Payment and other support available to your business.

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