Everything Startups Need to Know About the JobKeeper Alternative Test

5th May 2020

Highlights

• JobKeeper applications are due to be submitted by the end of May
• Many entities with irregular incomes, such as startups are missing out
• William Buck, ACS Preferred Accounting Partner are providing members with a 30-minute free business advice session to help you navigate COVID-19.

With the JobKeeper scheme in full swing and applications due to be submitted by the end of May for those who want to claim payments for April, many clients have found they are not qualifying using the basic decline in turnover test and potentially missing out. This means that either they have not been able to show a decline in turnover of at least 30% compared to last year or they are in a situation where they do not have an appropriate relevant period to compare to. 

The latter tends to apply to most startups as a year-on-year comparison just does not work for them. Good news however, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) last week released details of the ‘Alternative Tests’, which as its name suggests, allows those companies who fail the basic test, an alternative test to still qualify. There are seven (7) alternative tests in total, however not all apply to startups. In the article below, William Buck Sydney’s Jack Qi (Director, Tax Services) and Alex Zinzopoulos (Senior Tax Manager) provide their insights into how the alternative test will apply to Startups.

If your company is still unsure of its eligibility for the JobKeeper payments scheme, contact Scott Lindeblad from William Buck to help you work through the available tests and ensure you don’t miss out.

Read the full William Buck article on the Jobkeeper Alternative Test here.

William Buck are ACS Queensland’s Preferred Accounting Partners. This month they are providing members with a 30-minute free business advice session to help you navigate COVID-19.