JobKeeper Payment Find Out About the New Changes in 2021

One of the defining subsidies of 2020 for businesses affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) has been the JobKeeper payment. Introduced to help businesses stay afloat and workers in jobs the Australian governments JobKeeper program will be in effect until March 28 2021.

From January 4^th the 2^nd phase of JobKeeper payments saw reductions from $1200 a fortnight to $1000 per fortnight for employees working more than 20 hours per week. For employees working less than 20 hours the payment has been reduced from $750 to $650.

So why are their cuts considering the new COVID outbreaks in NSW & Victoria?

The slow reduction of the JobKeeper payments has been a long time coming, originally JobKeeper was not meant to extend past September 2020. One justification for the JobKeeper reduction timeline is it is an extremely expensive scheme estimated at costing the Australian government $130 billion. By slowing phasing out the payments, the government is attempting to reduce the severity of the economic impact of the pandemic on Australian households, with the new outbreaks it is impossible to say whether another Jobkeeper extension will be needed again, or if contact traces can squash the outbreaks in their tracks.

What does this mean for business owners?

To be eligible to have JobKeeper paid to your employees between January 4^th 2021 and March 28^th 2021, you will need to be able to show that your GST turnover fell in the December quarter (October, November, December 2020).  

If you are unsure how these changes will impact you and your business, contact our office to speak to one of our senior accountants today about JobKeeper changes and your eligibility.