Your business has qualified for JobKeeper and you’ve started receiving the first payments – what now?
There are additional lodgement and reporting requirements with the ATO, as well as strict payment conditions and cut-off dates.
If you’ve worked out your business is eligible for the first JobKeeper Payments (Fortnight 1 and 2) you will also be aware there are additional lodgement requirements.
Below is a summary of upcoming key dates:
31 May:
- Check if your employees meet the eligibility criteria
- Notify eligible employees you intend to claim the JobKeeper payment on their behalf
- Send and receive completed JobKeeper Employee Nomination Notice to eligible employees. (you can find a copy of the form here)
- Enrol for the Job Keeper Program
- Identify and maintain employees eligible for JobKeeper wage subsidies
After May:
If you are enrolling and identifying your employees and business participants for the first time after May, you will need to complete these steps in the month you wish to claim for.
14 June:
Complete monthly declaration for May.
From here, by the 14th of each month, you will need to declare monthly projected turnover as well as confirmation of no changes for current nominated employees
As this is a large administrative requirement, we encourage the following in keeping yourself organised:
- speak to your accountant for clarification of the process and who is handling what
- ensure Employee Nomination Forms are completed and kept on file, also emailed to your accountant
- action any step that you can ASAP, don’t leave to last minute, the longer you leave it or wait til last day, the longer it takes for you to receive your payment
IMPORTANT:
Please note that if you have not paid your employees for Fortnight 1 and 2 (30 March through to 26th April), the deadline has passed (8th May) to claim for April.
If you pay cycle is fortnightly, then you must pay your employees within that fortnight e.g. fortnight ending Sunday 24th May must be paid on 24th May or earlier that week.
Below is a guide from the ATO website for future payments.
| JobKeeper Fortnight | Period relating to each JobKeeper Fortnight | Employees are paid on or before ^ |
| 1 | 30 March – 12 April | 8 May* |
| 2 | 13 April – 26 April | 8 May* |
| 3 | 27 April – 10 May | 10 May* |
| 4 | 11 May – 24 May | 24 May* |
| 5 | 25 May – 7 June | 7 June |
| 6 | 8 June – 21 June | 21 June |
| 7 | 22 June – 5 July | 5 July |
| 8 | 6 July – 19 July | 19 July |
| 9 | 20 July – 2 August | 2 August |
| 10 | 3 August – 16 August | 16 August |
| 11 | 17 August – 30 August | 30 August |
| 12 | 31 August – 13 September | 13 September |
| 13 | 14 September – 27 September | 27 September |
* You have until 31 May to enrol for JobKeeper if you intend to claim for wages paid for JobKeeper fortnights in April and May.
^ When paying eligible employees, you do not need to adjust your pay cycle through your existing payroll solution.
If you usually pay your employees less frequently than fortnightly, the payment can be allocated between fortnights in a reasonable manner.
Still got questions, feeling confused or simply unsure of your personal position, feel free to get in touch with us. We can be reached here.
