Ongoing Support for NSW Businesses | JobSaver and Micro Grants

New South Wales businesses will still be able to obtain financial support from the NSW Government as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown but there are important changes to the grants system that business owners will need to be aware of.

JobSaver and MicroGrant Fortnightly Retesting is Now Required.

As JobSaver and MicroGrant are recurring fortnightly payments, the NSW Government has confirmed that businesses should retest to continue to receive payments under both programs. Businesses will continue to be eligible for support if they continue to experience a decline in turnover of >30%.

If you are registered for JobSaver or MicroGrant, you will receive a fortnightly email from Service NSW, asking you to reconfirm your eligibility for JobSaver or MicroGrant. These are expected to come to you late this week or early next week.

The requirement to Retest.

A business will need to reconfirm its eligibility to continue to receive payment under:

1. JobSaver – for the period 13 September to 26 September 2021, then each ongoing fortnight
2. MicroGrant – for the period 20 September to 3 October 2021, then each ongoing fortnight

Reconfirming Eligibility.

• The employee headcount on 13 July 2021 stated in the initial application has been maintained; and
• Each fortnight, the business will need to confirm that the business has continued to experience a decline in turnover of >30% relative your test year

If your business is closed and cannot trade during the period due to the Public Health Orders, your business can confirm its eligibility without doing any further testing.

If your business is trading, you will need to retest to determine whether you continue to experience a decline in turnover of >30% due to the Public Health Orders. There are 3 options for testing and the same option must be used when reconfirming the business’ eligibility for future fortnights:

OPTION 1 – Rolling Comparison Period

If your initial comparison period was 2019 or 2020, use the same year, but the corresponding fortnight, as the current fortnight. For example, if you initially compared the period 26 July to 8 August 2021 to 26 July to 8 August 2019, and you are now testing 13 September to 26 September 2021, then your comparison period is 13 September to 26 September 2019.

You cannot use 13 September to 26 September 2020 as your comparison period in this example. This comparison will continue to roll forward for future fortnights.

OPTION 2 – Static Comparison Period

If your initial comparison period was in 2019 or 2020, use the same comparison period that was used in your initial application.

For example, if you initially compared the period 26 July to 8 August 2021 to 26 July to 8 August 2019, and you are now testing 13 September to 26 September 2021, then your comparison period remains 26 July to 8 August 2019 This comparison period will remain fixed for all future periods.

OPTION 3 – Period 2 Weeks Prior to Lockdown

If you used 12 June to 25 June 2021 as your initial comparison period, you must use that same period that was used in the initial application.

For example, if you initially compared the period 26 July to 8 August 2021 to 12 June to 25 June 2021, and you are now testing 13 September to 26 September 2021, then your comparison period remains 12 June to 25 June 2021.

This comparison period will remain fixed for all future periods. You will not need to provide any additional evidence or attach any documentation when reconfirming your eligibility with Service NSW. You will need to keep adequate records to show evidence of your eligibility to support your claim.

Our Advice – DO NOT just tick, flick and hope no one checks. Do it right the first time to avoid audit and penalties later on.

The person making the declaration on behalf of the business will also need to declare that:

• They understand that it is an offence under the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) to provide false or misleading information to a public authority; and
• They understand that they will receive fortnightly communications from Service NSW about the business’ eligibility for JobSaver payments.

What Happens If Your Business Fails the Retest?

JobSaver is not a one-off test. As eligibility will be reconfirmed each fortnight, businesses may fluctuate between qualifying and not qualifying from one fortnight to the next. A business can exit and re-enter JobSaver multiple times. If the test is failed for one fortnightly period, you keep retesting for future fortnights.

EVERY business will need to test for the period 13 September to 26 September 2021 – this is because:

• If you are eligible and don’t complete this declaration, you will be paid the next September payment, but won’t be able to complete the following declaration of 27 September to 10 October and will hence get no more payments
• If you are ineligible and don’t complete this declaration you will be paid the next September payment, but will then be subject to integrity rules for this period and will have to repay the funds later
• The reconfirmation option will remain open for each payment period for the duration of the program
• Payment will be received within five business days of a business reconfirming eligibility
• September payments will continue even if a business doesn’t reconfirm eligibility, however, any payments after that will only be processed once eligibility is confirmed
• A business can delay reconfirming for a particular fortnight until the business has finalised its month-end accounting records
• A business can reconfirm multiple fortnights in one go
• The Service NSW business account will show the fortnights for which confirmation is still required

What do You need To Do Now?

• Ensure your business invoicing is kept up to date in your accounting system
• Ensure your bank is reconciled up to date, particularly for income received. You may need to communicate with your bookkeeper to ensure that your accounts are up to date.
• Consult with us to ensure we are using the correct retesting option.
• Speak to us or fill in our questionnaire BEFORE you respond to Service NSW.

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