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More than 70,000 businesses will now have employment records of their apprentices and trainees cross-checked with ATO data as part of a new JobKeeper compliance program.
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New compliance program to target apprentices on wage subsidy
22 September 2020
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The Department of Education, Skills and Employment will now acquire data from the ATO in a new data-matching program to support the Supporting Apprentices and Trainees (SAT) wage subsidy program.
The SAT program, launched as part of the government’s economic response to COVID-19, provides eligible small and medium-sized businesses with a wage subsidy of 50 per cent of an eligible apprentice or trainee’s wages paid until 31 March 2021.
The Department of Education, Skills and Employment will use the ATO data to confirm that employers are not claiming both the SAT wage subsidy and JobKeeper payment at the same time for the same employee.
It is estimated the new data-matching program will capture records that relate to around 117,000 apprentices and trainees and more than 70,000 employers.
The data-matching program will also look to confirm that the employer is eligible to receive the SAT wage subsidy and validate information provided by the employer.
The data is expected to include information about businesses currently employing apprentices as well as information about apprentices contained in the Training and Youth Internet Management System (TYIMS) and SmartForms completed by employers.
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More than $500 million has since been paid out to 51,200 employers to keep 89,300 apprentices in work as of 7 September.
The initial $1.3 billion measure was expanded in July, taking the total package to $2.5 billion. It is expected to support up to 90,000 businesses employing 180,000 apprentices.
A number of different data-matching programs between the Tax Office and other government departments have been recently established, with Services Australia most recently acquiring Single Touch Payroll data on an estimated 12 million individuals receiving Centrelink payments.
The ATO and Services Australia also embarked on a similar program earlier this year to verify individuals’ eligibility criteria for JobKeeper payments, the cash-flow boost and the early access to superannuation.
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