The NSW government has updated the rules concerning JobSaver eligibility on an ongoing basis with a view to winding back eligibility.  The timing of this change could appear to be seen as fortuitous given the dropping of the 11am press conference as announced today.

Previously, once the JobSaver criteria had been met, there was no ongoing need for retesting to receive the fortnightly payments.  With effect from 30 August 2021, this is no longer the case.

ServiceNSW will be issuing reminder emails (these may really be notification emails) for entities that are currently receiving JobSaver to advise that they need to reconfirm they meet the tests.  As such, to receive a payment for the period from 30 August to 11 September* taxpayers will need to confirm that they:

> Have continued to experience a decline in turnover of 30% or more, compared to:

• the same period in 2019, or
• the same period in 2020, or
• the 2-week period immediately before lockdown started in your area

> Are maintaining the employee headcount stated in the application.

The testing periods operate within the same framework of the original testing criteria, however, this is now required to be revisited fortnightly.  As such, if a taxpayer’s fall in revenue has recovered to 29% below the base test level, then they would no longer appear to be eligible.  There is no guidance (as yet?) for taxpayers who have a slight recovery for one fortnight and are not eligible and then meet the criteria in a subsequent fortnight – can they re-register?

It is noted that the period now appears to be a fixed two week period rather than a minimum two week period.  Importantly, in performing the testing for this period the testing needs to use the same year as in the original application.  For example, if in the original application 2019 was used as a base period then the retesting for this period would need to be for 2019.

The reminder emails will be issued by ServiceNSW every two weeks to confirm ongoing eligibility in order to receive ongoing support payments.

This new criteria represents yet another change in the shambolic deployment of what should have been seen as a gold standard support scheme.  Given the significant ongoing uncertainty, such timing of the removal of support is unwelcome at best.

Should you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to your Engagement Partner.

*Please note ServiceNSW have provided a further update since this newsletter was released. ServiceNSW have agreed to provide a grace period for the first fortnight to reaffirm eligibility. As such, it appears businesses will need to reconfirm their eligibility from September 10 – please stay tune for more updates and if you have any questions please reach out.