I’m a business owner. Will JobKeeper give me money?

Posted on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2020

Business owners are struggling at the moment and we are receiving a lot of queries regarding access to the JobKeeper payment.

If you are a business owner and your business has experienced a fall in turnover of at least 30%, you may be eligible for the JobKeeper Payment to help cash flow your business expenses.

That is, you may be able to access one $1,500 per fortnight payment in addition to $1,500 per fortnight for eligible employees.

The entity, not the eligible business participant, receives the JobKeeper Payment. The exception is a sole trader, who is both the business entity and an eligible business participant, and so receives the JobKeeper Payment themselves.

Your entity may be eligible for the JobKeeper Payment scheme if you:

have a non-employee individual who is actively engaged in the operation of the business – referred to as the eligible business participant
meet the other relevant eligibility requirements.

Eligible business participants

As a business owner (non-employee individual) you are an eligible business participant of your entity for the fortnight if you meet all of the following:

are an individual not employed by your entity.
are actively engaged in the business carried on by your entity (at 1 March 2020 and for the fortnight you are claiming).
are one of the following:
- a sole trader
- a partner in the partnership
- an adult beneficiary of the trust
- a shareholder or director in the company
as at 1 March 2020, you are both:
- aged at least 16
- an Australian resident (within the meaning of section 7 of the Social Security Act 1991), or a resident for income tax purposes and the holder of a special category (Subclass 444) visa.
are not currently receiving government parental leave pay, dad and partner pay.
are not currently totally incapacitated for work and receiving payments under an Australian workers’ compensation law in respect of your total incapacity to work.
are not an employee (other than a casual employee) of another entity.
have given you a JobKeeper nomination notice, and not given another entity a JobKeeper nomination notice.

Eligible business entities

Your entity is eligible if:

on 1 March 2020, it carried on a business in Australia.
it satisfies the fall in turnover test for the relevant period.
it satisfied certain conditions as at 12 March 2020, being:
- it had an ABN on 12 March 2020, and
- it had lodged, on or before 12 March 2020, at least one of
  - a 2018–19 income tax return showing that it had an amount included in its assessable income in relation to it carrying on a business, or
  - an activity statement or GST return for any tax period that started after 1 July 2018 and ended before 12 March 2020 showing that it made a taxable, GST-free or input-taxed sale.

Enrol for JobKeeper

Check you and your business meet the eligibility requirements, including the turnover test. The turnover calculation is based on GST turnover. This applies even if an entity is not registered for GST.

When you have worked out that your business is an eligible entity, and you are an eligible business participant, you can to enrol NOW.

If you are a sole trader, you can nominate yourself as the eligible business participant during the online enrolment process.

Either your Tax Agent or BAS Agent can enrol, or you can enrol directly in the Business Portal using myGovID or in ATO online services via myGov.

If you use the Business Portal, you will need a myGovID linked to your ABN in relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM). You can find out how to set this up on the ATO site.

If you are an eligible business participant such as a partner, adult beneficiary of a trust, or a shareholder in or director of a company, you need to complete the Eligible business participant nomination notice (excluding sole traders) to record that you have agreed to be nominated to receive JobKeeper payments through an eligible business.

If you have employees, your employees will need to complete a Jobkeeper employee nomination notice.

Your entity needs to enrol by the end of April for payments in either the fortnights starting 30 March 2020 or 13 April 2020. However, enrolments are open till the end of May if you need more time.

FAQs

Can two different businesses claim JobKeeper payments for the same individual?

No. Only one claim per individual for JobKeeper payments can be made. An entity cannot claim JobKeeper payments for an individual if there is already a JobKeeper claim being made by another business or employer for that individual.

Can a sole trader with more than one business receive multiple JobKeeper payments?

No. You can only receive the JobKeeper payment once.

Can more than one eligible business participant be nominated by an entity?

No. Only one eligible business participant can be nominated. This means that a business entity must choose which eligible business participant to nominate, and the entity is only entitled to one JobKeeper payment per fortnight.

Can a sole trader receive JobKeeper payments when they are also an employee of another business?

No. An eligible business participant cannot be an employee (other than a casual employee) of another entity. If the sole trader is both a long term casual employee of another business and also an eligible sole trader, they can choose to either let their employer claim the JobKeeper payments on their behalf, or they can claim as a sole trader, but not both.

We can help

If we act as your Tax Agent, we can assist by reviewing your eligibility and enrolling for Jobkeeper Payment on your behalf.

Even if you are not a client of McSweeney CA, we still welcome any questions you may have as we would be happy to assist you and your businesses in a time of need.

We are always here to help.

McSweeney CA

I’m a business owner. Will JobKeeper give me money?

Business owners are struggling at the moment and we are receiving a lot of queries regarding access to the JobKeeper payment.

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