ATO’s $75 million crackdown on businesses scamming JobKeeper

The ATO has gone after Aussies rorting the wage subsidy scheme after receiving 9000 tip-offs from the public, clawing back $75 million so far.

The Australian Taxation Office has received an overwhelming number of tip-offs ratting out those ripping off the JobKeeper scheme, allowing the Government to claw back $75 million in fraudulent claims.

Those rorting the wage subsidy scheme were put on notice last month, with the ATO now revealing it has been flooded with more than 9000 alerts in relation to Australians doing the wrong thing.

The $1500-a-fortnight wage subsidy was introduced by the Government to help the nation through the coronavirus crisis, and so far millions of workers have benefited from the scheme.

And while the ATO has been busy chasing down rorters, its second commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn told a parliamentary committee on Thursday it was yet to issue any penalties.

“We have had a range of activity of clawing back JobKeeper from people that were claimed inappropriately, we have a number of matters where we are looking to impose penalties,” he said according to The West Australian.

RELATED: Follow our live coronavirus coverage

The pandemic left a devastating number of Aussies scrambling for Centrelink support. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

RELATED: ATO issues warning for dodgy bosses

“We have a smaller number of matters that are going to the police and via the serious financial crimes task force.”

Also revealed during the hearing was the sheer number of Australians who were busted trying to receive a tax deduction from the money taken from retirement funds as part of the early access to super scheme.

“We have identified about 1200 people who have withdrawn money from super and then immediately re-contributed it,” ATO Second Commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn said.

“We have written to them advising them that there’s the potential application of anti-avoidance rules and that they might want to consider their position in their next tax return in terms of claiming a deduction in terms of that contribution.”

Last month, a news.com.au article about a Gold Coast cafe owner’s questionable JobKeeper tactic sparked an outpouring of similar complaints and questions from readers.

In response, news.com.au contacted the ATO to bust some of the most common JobKeeper myths and misconceptions.

A spokeswoman told news.com.au the ATO would “work with employers to avoid and overcome genuine mistakes” and said the JobKeeper tip-off line had already received many calls about a range of JobKeeper-related topics.

The spokeswoman confirmed employers who were eligible for JobKeeper must pay all eligible workers at least the minimum $1500-a-fortnight – even if they usually earnt less than that sum in a normal fortnight.

“An employer cannot pay an eligible employee less than $1500 per fortnight and keep the difference,” the spokeswoman confirmed.

“Employers are not eligible for payments if they don’t pay the full JobKeeper amount to employees.

“The JobKeeper payment reimburses the employer for the JobKeeper amounts paid and employees are not required to repay any JobKeeper payments to their employer.”

The spokeswoman also explained an employer was only required to pay Superannuation Guarantee (SG) on the amounts paid for work performed by the employee or any paid leave that the employee takes in the period.

“In some cases, the $1500 the employer pays will be more than the amount an employer is required to pay its employee solely in relation to the performance of their work and any paid leave they take for that fortnight,” she said.

“Where an employer pays a top-up amount to meet the JobKeeper wage condition of $1500 per fortnight, for SG purposes the employer does not need to make any super contributions in respect of that additional amount in order to avoid a super guarantee charge (SGC) liability – though the employer can choose to do so. However, employers may have other super obligations under an industrial agreement, award or contract.

“If an eligible employee receives a salary in excess of $1500 (before tax) per fortnight for the performance of ordinary hours of work, the employer is required to continue to make SG contributions in order to avoid an SGC liability.”