On 6 October 2020 as part of the 2020–21 Budget, the government announced a new incentive for businesses to employ additional young job seekers called the JobMaker Hiring Credit. The JobMaker Hiring Credit will be administered by the ATO.
Eligible employers will have access to a JobMaker Hiring Credit for each new job they create over the 12 months from 7 October 2020, for which they hire an eligible employee, for a maximum claim period of 12 months from their employment start date.
Employers will register with us and make claims quarterly, with claims commencing in February 2021.
The JobMaker Hiring Credit will be:
• $200 per week for each eligible employee aged 16 to 29
• $100 per week for each eligible employee aged 30 to 35.
An employer cannot claim JobKeeper and JobMaker Hiring Credit at the same time.
To be eligible, employers must:
• hold an Australian Business number (ABN)
• be up-to-date with their tax lodgement obligations
• be registered for Pay As You Go (PAYG) withholding
• be reporting through Single touch payroll (STP).
Eligible employees must have worked an average of at least 20 hours per week over the quarter for the employer to qualify for the payment. Employees that start and/or stop employment during a quarter must meet a similar test based on the length of time in employment.
For the employer to be eligible, new employees must:
• be aged 16 to 35 years
• be in receipt of income support payments (such as JobSeeker Payment, Youth Allowance (Other), or Parenting Payment) for at least one of the three months before they were hired.
Further eligibility conditions will apply to employers based on the employer’s headcount and payroll on 30 September 2020. These conditions ensure that employers claim credits for additional jobs created rather than for replacing existing employees.
Action:
If you have, or are planning to increase your employee numbers, please contact your accountant at SBP to discuss eligibility and registration.
Register for JobMaker Hiring Credit
Eligible employers can register for the JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme from 6 December 2020.
Once registered, eligible employers can claim the JobMaker Hiring Credit payment for each JobMaker period. You can make a claim for the first JobMaker period from 1 February 2021. Payments are made in arrears.
To complete their registration for the JobMaker Hiring Credit, employers must provide their:
• baseline headcount
• baseline payroll amount
• contact details.
This information can be provided through either:
- SBP
- The Business Portal
- ATO Online Services
Reporting in STP
Certain employee information must be reported through STP. You will not be able to claim JobMaker Hiring Credit payments until your STP reporting is up to date.
Your STP reporting is due three days before the end of the JobMaker claim period you make a claim for. For example, to make a claim for JobMaker period 1 (7 October 2020 to 6 January 2021), your STP reporting should be up to date by 27 April 2021, three days before the end of the claim period on 30 April 2021. This will enable the relevant information to be pre-filled in the claim form.
You must report the following information in STP for each employee you intend to claim for:
• tax file number (TFN)
• date of birth
• full name
• start date of employee (if occurring in the JobMaker period)
• end date of employee (if occurring in the JobMaker period)
• whether your employee met the hours requirement
Action:
SBP will be able to assist you with any administration support with Job Maker reporting.
Other news.