With JobKeeper coming to an end it might be worth considering if you are eligible for the JobMaker Hiring Credit.
In summary the JobMaker Hiring Credit is a scheme whereby employers will receive a contribution towards employment costs of an additional employee starting employment between 7 October 2020 and 6 October 2021. The employee must be between the age of 16 and 35 and have received income support for at least 28 days in the 84 days prior to commencing employment.
Employer Eligibility
To be eligible for JobMaker:
- The employer needs to demonstrate that the new employee will increase the overall employee headcount compared to 30 September 2020 and payroll compared to the quarter ended 30 September 2020.
- The employer needs to have an ABN, be registered for PAYG withholding, report through Single Touch Payroll and in addition have no outstanding income tax or GST returns that have become due in the past 2 years.
- Any person or relative of a person who is a sole trader, partner in a partnership, trustee or beneficiary of the employer trust, or shareholder or director of the employer company, is not considered an employee.
- The employer cannot be receiving a wage subsidy under another Commonwealth program such as JobKeeper at the same time as claiming the JobMaker credit.
- The employer must be on the single touch payroll (STP) reporting regime.
Employee Criteria
The new employee must:
- Have started employment with the employer between 7 October 2020 and 6 October 2021.
- Be between the age of 16 and 35 years at the start of their employment.
- Have received either the JobSeeker Payment, Youth Allowance or Parenting Payment for at least 28 consecutive days within the 84 days before commencing employment.
- Complete an Employee Notice for the employer claiming a JobMaker Hiring Credit.
- Have worked at least 20 paid hours per week on average for all the weeks employed during each reporting period.
- If they have 2 jobs, only complete the Employee Notice for one employer as only one employer is eligible to claim the JobMaker Hiring Credit.
- A new business who had no employees as at 30 September 2020 can only claim for the second and subsequent new eligible employee.
Payment to Employer
Under the JobMaker Scheme, the employer’s ATO Integrated Tax Account will be credited $200 per week for additional eligible employees aged 16 and 29 years and $100 per week for eligible employees aged 30 to 35 years.
The employer can receive the payment for up to 12 months for any eligible additional employee who commences employment from 7 October 2020 to 6 October 2021.
Method of Claiming
The first step is to get the employee to complete the Employee Notice to ensure they are eligible. Next the employer needs to register for the JobMaker Hiring Credit through ATO online services, the ATO business portal or their registered tax or BAS agent.
This needs to be done by the end of the period that the employer first elects to participate – see period dates below.
Once this is done you need to identify, nominate and report eligible additional employees through your STP enabled software.
The employer can then make the claim every 3 months from 1 February 2021 via ATO online services, the ATO business portal or their registered tax or BAS agent.
Claim Periods
Claims are only submitted every 3 months starting 1st February 2021. Any new eligible employee must be registered in the period that he started his employ for the employer to claim. The claim periods are as follows: –
1st Period 7 October 2020 to 6 January 2021
2nd Period 7 January 2021 to 6 April 2021
3rd Period 7 April 2021 to 6 July 2021
4th Period 7 July 2021 to 6 October 2021
7th Period 7 October 2021 to 6 January 2022
8th Period 7 January 2022 to 6 April 2022
9th Period 7 April 2022 to 6 July 2022
10th Period 7 July 2022 to 6 October 2022
Get in touch with us if you have any queries about JobMaker and need assistance.