‘The sooner declarations are lodged, the sooner payments are processed’
Employers who were unable to file their JobKeeper monthly declarations over the weekend now have until the end of November to submit their records, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) said.
The tax office will continue to accept and process declarations submitted past 14 November.
The delay over the weekend was caused by a “planned system maintenance” which supposedly interrupted the submission of records needed for the October reimbursements.
The JobKeeper wage subsidy programme requires employers to file their declarations between the 1st and 14th of every month for them to claim their subsidy for the previous month. The deadline this month, however, coincided with the scheduled maintenance check.
Read more: JobKeeper extension: What you need to know
Despite extending the deadline, the ATO urged employers to be prompt with their filings: “As always, the sooner declarations are lodged, the sooner payments are processed,” a spokesperson for the agency said.
“We work closely with software providers and the community, and if employers have any questions or need assistance on their JobKeeper monthly declarations, they should contact us,” the representative said.
Meanwhile, employers who are planning to claim subsidies for the November fortnights should enrol by 30 November.
“You can enrol for JobKeeper until the program closes, provided you meet the eligibility requirements. You will need to enrol by the end of each month to claim reimbursements for JobKeeper fortnights in that month,” the ATO said.
Read more: JobKeeper 2.0: What employers need to know
However, employers who were found to be ineligible and who allegedly committed “deliberate” and “reckless” errors in filing their JobKeeper claims in previous months have had to pay back the ATO a total of $120m. Businesses, however, were not fined for the errors.
Other employers who made an “honest” mistake in their filing were eliminated from the programme but were no longer asked to repay the funds.
Despite the errors, the ATO said there was no widespread fraud among the disqualified recipients.
