NSW has implemented new rules for businesses receiving JobSaver or Micro Business Grants to determine eligibility for ongoing payments.
The reason is quite simple; Service NSW is trying to avoid the JobKeeper disaster. Some businesses across the country made higher profits from JobKeeper than in recent years. This caused a stir when it came to light, especially for large companies.
What should you do as a business?
The NSW service has a reconfirmation in place that businesses will need to complete in order to continue receiving payments.
Before the state was completely out of the bloc, pressure to do so has been criticized, and state accountants have relied on membership bodies to pressure the government to change the process. They were able to delay the reconfirmation process for two weeks and add additional options to remain eligible; however, the NSW government is very resolute, and the reconfirmation process will continue.
When should you reconfirm your eligibility?
The timing of your reconfirmation will depend on the payments you are currently receiving. A micro-business will need to reconfirm its eligibility in order to continue to receive:
- Grants for micro-businesses for the period from September 20 to October 3, 2021.
- JobSaver payment for the period from September 13 to September 26, 2021
How to reconfirm your eligibility?
You will need to sign in to the same NSW service account you used for the initial request to reconfirm. You will see an action note on the business profile page required to enter the reconfirmation process.
Here you’re required to confirm that you have maintained your employee headcount and that your income has continued to drop by 30%.
You do not need to provide any additional documents for this request.
How do you know if you still qualify?
You need to confirm two key things: the number of employees and the decline in income. You will require the details of the information entered in your question to answer these questions. Unfortunately, the original app is not available for online viewing. However, if you have an accountant card at that time, details of your income will be on the card.
HeadCount: is the same as at the time of the application:
- For the purpose of this grant, the number of employees means the number of people who are employed at NSW. This include those who are full-time or part-time casual staff that have been employed for more than 12 months.
- If you’ve observed a decrease in the number of employees due to voluntary resignation or other reasons beyond your control, that’s okay.
Revenue Decline: is not that simple, and there are three calculation options depending on the method chosen in the original application.
Option 1 – Rolling comparison if the initial comparison was in 2019 or 2020
If you used 2019 or 2020 as the comparison period, the first option is to continue using the same year. But ensure to update two weeks to two corresponding weeks as the current two weeks.
For instance, if you initially compared the period July 25 to August 7, 2021, to July 25 to August 7, 2019, and you are now testing between September 12 and September 25, 2021, the comparison period is between 12 and 25 September 2019. In this example, you cannot use September 13-26, 2020, as the comparison period.
Option 2 – Static comparison if the initial comparison was in 2019 or 2020
If you used 2019 or 2020 as the comparison period. The second option is to continue using the same comparison period as the original application.
For instance, if you initially compared the period July 25 to August 7, 2021, to July 25 to August 7, 2019, and you are now testing between September 12 and September 25, 2021, the comparison period is between July 25 and August 7, 2019. The comparison duration will remain fixed for all future periods.
Option 3 – Static comparison if the initial comparison was in 2021
The last option applies to all companies that used the period from June 12, 2021, to June 25, 2021, as a comparison period. You must continue to use this period, and it remains fixed for all future periods.
For example, if you initially compared the period July 25 to August 7, 2021, to June 12, June 25, 2021, and you are now testing September 13 to September 26, 2021, the comparison period is still June 12 to June 25, 2021.
What else should you know?
Future grant payments will only be made after reconfirmation is complete, and ongoing reporting for these grants will now be weekly. This means that your accounts need to be updated. Any delay in reconciling your accounts will mean you will not be able to calculate the downturn correctly and will not be able to reconfirm your eligibility in a timely manner. This, in turn, will delay any future payments that will be made to you if you qualify.
What do you do if you are unsure?
Remember that providing false or misleading information to a public authority is a felony under the 1900 [NSW] Crimes Act; therefore, please verify your eligibility status before completing the form.
If you don’t know what to do or need assistance, please contact a professional to help you.
