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Jobkeeper Extension Update

jobkeeper updates

On Friday, the Federal Government announced further changes to JobKeeper extension beyond September:

  1. To be eligible for JobKeeper payments in the December 2020 quarter, businesses will now only need to show a decline of 30% in the September 2020 quarter, compared to the September 2019 quarter;
  2. To be eligible for JobKeeper payments in the March 2021 quarter, businesses will now only need to show a decline of 30% in the December 2020 quarter, compared to the December 2019 quarter;
  3. The date for eligible employees for the JobKeeper extension has been extended to 1 July 2020 from 1 March 2020

For businesses that fail the basic turnover test as outlined above, the Tax Commissioner is able to provide alternative tests to meeting the decline in GST turnover criteria, as was the case with the initial eligibility.  These are yet to be determined for the JobKeeper extension.

To be eligible for the JobKeeper extension, the decline in turnover will be actual GST turnover for the relevant quarter, not projected turnover, as was the case with the original JobKeeper eligibility criteria.

It also seems that the BAS lodgement basis will be the basis this time around, which might mean that there is no option between cash or accruals, unless the basis is changed in the BAS.  Consideration may need to be given to this, if the legislation permits this to happen.