JobMaker Hiring Credit - Am I Eligible

By Gillian Hayward

Is your business growing and expanding and looking to take on more staff? You may be eligible for the JobMaker Hiring Credit.

What is the JobMaker Hiring Credit?

For any new job that is created from between 7^th October 2020 to the 6^th October 2021, eligible employers can receive a payment of:

$200 a week for eligible employees aged 16 to 29 years (at the time they are hired)
$100 a week for eligible employees aged 30 to 35 years (at the time they are hired)

Employers can claim a hiring credit for 12 months for each new position.

Is my business eligible?

Employers are eligible to receive the Jobmaker credit if they:

Meet the additionality criteria, this requires an increase in:
- The businesses total employee headcount from the reference date of 30 September 2020 – This is the actual number of staff you employ irrespective of the hours that they perform (Baseline Headcount)
- The payroll of the business for the reporting period, as compared to the three months to 30 September 2020. For the first reporting period this will be comparing the businesses payroll for the period 1 July 2020 to 30 September 2020 (baseline payroll) to the first reporting period being 7^th October 2020 to the 6^th January 2020. Note that the amount of hiring credit claim cannot exceed the amount of the increase in payroll for the reporting period
Have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
Are up to date with their tax lodgement obligations
Are registered for Pay As you Go Withholding (PAYG)
Are reporting through Single Touch Payroll (STP)
Are claiming in respect to an eligible employee (see below)
Have kept adequate records of the paid hours worked by the employee they are claiming for

Is my employee eligible?

The new employee must:

Be aged between 16 and 35 years at the time their employment commenced
Worked at least 20 paid hours per week on average for the full weeks they were employed in the reporting period (this includes paid leave)
Commenced employment between 7 October 2020 and the 6 October 2021
Have received the JobSeeker payment, Youth Allowance (other) or parenting payment for at least one of the previous three months at the time of hiring
Be in their first year of employment with this employer, reflecting that the hiring credit is only available for 12 months for each additional job
Must be employed for the period that the employer is claiming for them
Employees may be employed on a permanent, casual or fixed term basis

How do I make a claim?

Registrations will open for eligible employers on the 7^th December 2020
Your Eligible Employee will need to complete a declaration stating they meet the eligibility requirements at the time they commenced employment
Employers can submit claims via ATO online services from 1 February 2020 for the quarter in arrears (7 October 2020 to 6 January 2020)
Employers will have three months to submit claiming following the opening of the claim period

Other information

Employers cannot be eligible for JobKeeper payment scheme and the Jobmaker Hiring credit at the same time.
Employers cannot access more than one Commonwealth wage subsidy program for the same employee. This includes Department of Education, Skills and Employment wage subsidy and boosting Apprenticeship commencement wage subsidy.
You can not claim the JobMaker Hiring Credit for an employee that another employer is claiming for.
If you are a new business or a business with no employees at 30^th September 2020, you are able to claim the JobMaker Hiring credit for the second and subsequent eligible employees.

For further information or assistance in registering and processing your JobMaker Hiring Credit, please contact your WDF team member.

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