The Australian Government passed legislation on 8 April 2020 making the JobKeeper subsidy a reality for struggling businesses.
What is the JobKeeper subsidy?
JobKeeper is a subsidy administered by the ATO and paid to businesses that have experienced a downturn of 30% or more due to COVID-19. Businesses are eligible to receive $1,500 per fortnight per employee.
For ACNC-registered charities the downturn threshold is 15%.
Do I need to include the JobKeeper Income as sales on my BAS?
The JobKeeper payment is not consideration for supply therefore not included in your GST turnover. This means that no you do not include the JobKeeper payment as Income on your BAS and hence do not remit any GST on the payment.
Do I need to include the JobKeeper Income as sales my tax return?
All JobKeeper payments are assessable income of the business that is eligible to receive the payments. This means that you do need to include the JobKeeper payment as Sales/Income on your income tax return.
If you have received the JobKeeper payment and are using our online platform, please include the income where you report your sales. Please also drop us a friendly email to let us know you have included it in your Income.
As mentioned in the previous questions, the JobKeeper payment is not subject to GST and is not included as Income on your BAS.
Which JobKeeper months do I include as Income in my tax return?
As the JobKeeper payments are monthly, there is a timing variance between the month you are receiving the reimbursement for and the date in which you are paid.
A common question on this is whether you Income the June JobKeeper reimbursement as Income in your 2020 Tax return?
The short answer is you only declare the amounts as Income in the year that you received the cash payments. This means that the June declaration, which is paid in July, will be included in your 2021 tax return.
