Furniture giant Nick Scali, Domino’s Pizza and Super Retail Group are among a tiny number of firms voluntarily handing back JobKeeper payments, with only $50 million in repayments expected so far.

Officials from the Australian Taxation Office told federal Parliament’s COVID-19 inquiry that JobKeeper’s growing price tag had hit $83 billion as of February 1, but the number of firms opting to make voluntary repayments was not large.