Yahoo Finance ‘Can’t play the system’: Ombudsman’s JobMaker warning
Australia’s peak small business lobby group has warned business owners against attempts to cheat the JobMaker scheme by firing a staff member and hiring someone new.
The JobMaker hiring credit scheme officially opened for registration last Monday. The scheme allows employers to claim up to $200 per week back for hiring someone aged 16-29, and up to $100 a week for hiring staff aged 30 to 35.
However, Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell pointed out that the employees must be new hires – additions to the team – in order for small businesses to receive the payments.
“You can't try to play the system here, and I’m sure small businesses wouldn’t do that,” she said in a MyBusiness webinar on Friday.
“You can't get rid of a staff member, and put somebody on and hope to get the $200 or $100.
“It has to be a new staff person, because we're trying to get people back into work at the moment.”
To be eligible for JobMaker, the business also cannot be receiving JobKeeper benefits, she added.
But she sought to remind business owners that they can still register for the scheme even if they haven’t yet hired anyone new.
“Even though you haven't put on any new people at this stage you can [still] register, because there's a period of time before you need to put in an application.”
JobMaker Hiring Credit open for registration
Since 6 December, eligible employers have been able to register for the scheme. Payments will start flowing from 1 February next year.
Payments are made quarterly, in arrears, so bosses who hire staff in October won’t actually see the subsidy until March the following year.
Workers will only be deemed eligible if they have received the Parenting Payment, Youth Allowance, or JobSeeker for at least one of three months prior to taking up the job.
Employers will have to be set up with Single Touch Payroll (STP) in order to nominate employees, review their eligibility and claim the payments.
Businesses can register by logging onto either ATO online services via myGov or the Business portal using myGovID.
Once you’re registered and meet all the eligibility criteria, you can start claiming from 1 February.
The scheme ends on 6 October 2022, so anyone hired on or after 7 October won’t be eligible for the scheme.
Businesses should start checking their eligibility for the scheme, ATO deputy commissioner James O’Halloran said.
“We encourage employers to register from now to ensure their hiring credits can be paid promptly from when the first quarterly claim period opens in February 2021,” he said.
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