By now we know each of these schemes prefaced with ‘Job’ is a different way the Government gives money to employers (and employees) to make it easier for businesses to survive and keep people employed during the COVID-19 pandemic. JobMaker is the latest and newest scheme – however, be careful, as an employer cannot claim JobKeeper or another government wage subsidy and benefit from the JobMaker Hiring Credit at the same time.
What is JobMaker?
Whilst handing down the new Federal Budget the Federal Government introduced its latest wage subsidy scheme – the JobMaker Hiring Credit.
This new scheme is aimed at supporting employers to create new jobs within their business and employ additional people, specifically those aged between 16 and 35 years old. Employers will get paid for each new job they create over the next 12 months from 7 October 2020 until 6 October 2021.
Employers will receive:
AUD$200 per week for eligible employees aged from 16 to 29 years old
AUD$100 per week for eligible employees from 30 up to 35 years of age
Can Any Employer Get JobMaker?
From 30 September 2020, you must show you have increased the overall number of employees within your business by at least one person, and your payroll has increased accordingly. From then you can receive the JobMaker Hiring Credit for each position created for a period up to 12 months from the date that new person starts working for you.
You must also:
Hold an Australian Business number (ABN)
Be up-to-date with your tax lodgement obligations
Be registered for Pay As You Go (PAYG) withholding
Be reporting through Single touch payroll (STP).
How Can I Register for the Scheme?
Similar to JobKeeper, to receive JobMaker employers need to report their employees’ payroll information to the Australian Tax Office (ATO) through Single Touch Payroll.
Unlike JobKeeper, there is no need to demonstrate a decline in turnover, rather just demonstrate an increase in people employed by the business over the quarter. Businesses don’t need to be registered for the scheme at the time a new job is created, only when they claim.
You can claim the subsidy every quarter. The first quarter will run from 7 October 2020 to 6 January 2021. You can register for the scheme from 7 December 2020 on the ATO website. Claims for the first quarter can be made from 01 February 2021.
Can I claim it for any new hire?
No. The person you are putting on must be aged between 16 and 35 years of age to qualify and they need to have received some kind of income support for at least one month in the three months before you hired them.
Specifically, they must have received one of the following over the last three months:
a JobSeeker Payment
a Youth Allowance (Other)
a Parenting Payment
In addition, employees must have worked an average of at least 20 hours per week over the quarter for the employer to be able to get the payment.
Finally, if you are a new business, you cannot claim it for the first person you hire, but you can claim for employees hired afterwards until 6 October 2021. If you hire someone on 6 October 2021 you can still get the payments for 12 months after that.
For more information, please call Employsure for free initial advice on 1300 651 415.
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