Changes to JobKeeper program

Eligible Employees: change to minimum age for certain employees
Information published by the ATO states that an employee who was at least 16 years of age at 1 March 2020 would be deemed eligible for the JobKeeper Program. This has now been changed by the latest Treasury fact sheet to include ‘…with the exception of full time students who are 17 years old and younger and who are not financially independent’.
 
Your employees who are 16 or 17 years of age, study full time at any Educational Institution and who are not Financially Independent (i.e., still living at home and not under a rental-style agreement) are excluded from the JobKeeper Program.
 
This change is being applied prospectively, so employers that have paid employees who meet this criteria during the first and second fortnights of the JobKeeper Program will be reimbursed by the ATO. However, payments in future fortnights (from fortnight three and onwards) will not be reimbursed.
 
We strongly recommend you remove JobKeeper TopUp as a wage category in your payroll system for employees who now fall outside the new eligibility criteria, and process an JobKeeper End Date in your next scheduled pay run.

Deadline extended to enrol as an Eligible Employer for JobKeeper Payments

The ATO has confirmed that eligible employers have until 31 May 2020 to enrol in the JobKeeper Program. Employers claiming reimbursement for April 2020 payments must still make JobKeeper payments to eligible employees by 30 April 2020, but now have until the end of May to enrol through the ATO and complete their payment declarations.

Not sure if you are an Eligible Employer? Check the criteria published by the ATO 
(https://www.ato.gov.au/general/jobkeeper-payment/employers/eligible-employers/). 

Information provided by member - Crowley Calvert & Holmes Chartered Accounts