02 May ATO focus in relation to JobKeeper
The ATO has recently announced it’s keeping an eye out for areas of concern in relation to JobKeeper, including what may constitute “fraudulent behaviour”.
It is paying special attention to situations where employers may have used the JobKeeper scheme in ways that avoided paying employees their full and rightful entitlements.
Businesses are being examined where the ATO is concerned they may have:
- made claims for employees without a nomination notice or have not paid their employees the correct JobKeeper amount (before tax);
- made claims for employees where there is no history of an employment relationship;
- amended their prior business activity statements to increase sales in order to meet the turnover test; or
- recorded an unexplained decline in turnover, followed by a significant increase.
Individuals are also being investigated where the ATO suspects they may have knowingly made multiple claims for themselves as employees or as eligible business participants, or made claims both as an employee and an eligible business participant.