For a large number of Australian organisations, JobKeeper has been a lifeline for their business. But, for many, calculating your businesses’ required shortfall to receive payments has been complex and, as a result, a significant number of organisations may have unknowingly submitted incorrect figures.
The result, post-September, will be paying it back, and other potential penalties. It’s the responsibility of the Board and management to ensure compliance.
To date, we have reviewed the applications of dozens of clients across a wide variety of sectors and have identified miscalculations. Most common errors were incorrectly counting employees that were ineligible for JobKeeper, choosing the wrong GST turnover decline test, or not including (or excluding) the right revenue items where turnover is different from what is reported on the BAS.
The ATO has also highlighted the areas they are particularly looking at for anomalies, including multiple eligible business participant claims, employees incorrectly excluded under the one-in, all-in rule and falsifying records or revising activity statements to meet the fall in decline. They will also pay close attention to the application of the decline in turnover test and have the technology in place to identify situations where actual and projected turnover have significantly diverged.
Our JobKeeper Assurance helps you to assess (or re-assess) your eligibility for JobKeeper payments against ATO expectations. We use data analytics to review turnover declines and employee eligibility and document the findings to act as validation for expected ATO integrity reviews and safeguard your compliance practises.
While JobKeeper is expected to be reviewed next month, and is due to end late September, do not wait to check your application is correct and well documented.
We’ve already seen action taken by the ATO and the Australian Federal Police based on more than 3,000 anonymous tip offs that some businesses haven’t done the right thing. And while we believe that most companies are doing the right thing, a small accounting error could have large repercussions.
Based on our experience, the ATO wants to work with businesses that have made honest mistakes in their applications, and would prefer these to be dealt with quickly to avoid any future penalties. Please get in touch to learn more about how JobKeeper Assurance can support you and your business.
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