In Trouble for JobKeeper Rort?
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has recently revealed that it is still owed millions of dollars from companies that have attempted to rort the JobKeeper wage subsidy, which expired on 31 March 2021.
Since the introduction of the JobKeeper wage subsidy, almost 3.8 million employees employed by more than 1 million businesses, have received more than $80 billion from the ATO in JobKeeper payments.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, the ATO’s second commissioner Jeremy Hirschorn stated that the ATO has so far clawed back about $135 million JobKeeper payments, some from people deliberately acting to defraud the system.
Currently, some JobKeeper matters have been referred for criminal prosecution, with more under consideration.
There are also more than 140 cases reviewed for potentially fraudulent behaviour.
Fraudulent Behaviours
Some of the potentially fraudulent behaviours include:
- Claiming JobKeeper payments for non-existent employees;
- Suddenly having employees although historically having none;
- Not having eligible employees; and
- Not paying eligible employees the correct fortnightly amounts.
However, if you have sufficient evidence and reasons to support your decision to hire more employees or that payment of incorrect amounts has been ‘honest mistakes’, the ATO may not pursue you and if it does, you may be able to defend your actions.
In the past year, the ATO has agreed not to recoup $50 million from businesses who were found to have made ‘honest mistakes’ in their JobKeeper applications.
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Related Blog – Resumption of Tax Compliance Activities by the ATO