The Federal Government rolled out JobKeeper back in March 2020 to sustain businesses impacted by the COVD-19 pandemic. The scheme, which at its height supported more than 3.8 million jobs, ended in March this year.
Business owners had to assess their business and determine whether they qualify for JobKeeper support from the government. At the start of the scheme, many business were unsure of the actual requirements but applied for JobKeeper. Many of these businesses may now have realised that they weren’t actually qualified to receive the support.
What happens if you have wrongly claimed JobKeeper?
The ATO has announced that JobKeeper will not need to be repaid if an honest mistake was made. The ATO will consider the following factors:
- you relied in good faith on a statement made by an employee in their nomination notice;
- you fully passed on the benefit of the JobKeeper payment to the relevant employee; and
- the mistake was made earlier in JobKeeper when there was less public guidance.
If the ATO considers the mistake as not one that is honest however, recipients will have to repay JobKeeper and penalties may be applied. While the list is not exhaustive, the ATO has provided several instances where the ATO will likely consider a mistake as not being honest:
- fraud was perpetrated by either the JobKeeper recipient or another entity;
- there has been intentional disregard of the law or recklessness in its application;
- you nominated employees, business participants or religious practitioners that you should have known would not satisfy eligibility requirements;
- you have deliberately not met the wage condition; and
- you have been contacted by the ATO about your claim potentially being ineligible and have not taken reasonable steps to check the eligibility before making claims subsequent.
Contact Us For Assistance
If you have been contacted by the ATO to repay JobKeeper payments and are not able to, speak to us. We have years of experience in advising clients on options when they or their company has a tax debt. So, contact us at TAX DEBT SOLVED for a free, no-obligation consultation.
