Last week the government passed legislation for the Job Keeper payment. This legislation required the Treasurer to produce a set of rules to regulate the Job Keeper payment and these are contained in Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Rules 2020. The rules are accompanied by an Explanatory Statement.

These two documents are the offical and technical statements on the eligibility for the Job Keeper payment and how they will be administered. The Treasury has also produced a number of fact sheets to assist businesses to understand the rules. Unfortunately, there are a number of inconsistencies between these various documents and the Accounting industry is awaiting guidance from the ATO on their interpretation and how they plan to administer these rules. This guidance is expected Tuesday (14/03) or Wednesday (15/03) of this week.

Regardless, we have included below a number of FAQ which have arisen in relation to the Job Keeper payment.