The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) first published details about the COVID-19 economic response support data-matching program on 22 June 2020.
This program has been amended to include:
- extensions of the JobKeeper and temporary early release of superannuation schemes
- extensions of the data collections that support the JobKeeper and temporary early release of superannuation schemes
- additional correctional facility data providers
- a new data collection to support the JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme.
In March 2020 the Australian government announced a range of temporary measures to help the economy withstand and recover from the impact of novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The economic response includes supporting:
- individuals
- households
- businesses
- continuing the flow of credit.
The ATO is responsible for the administration of a number of these measures providing tailored support during COVID-19. This data-matching program supports our delivery of:
- JobKeeper payments to employees, sole traders or other individuals
- temporary early access to superannuation
- temporary cash flow boosts for employers
- JobMaker Hiring Credit payments to employers of additional young job seekers who are 16–35 years old.
The JobKeeper payment is to help businesses significantly impacted by COVID-19 to cover the costs of their employees' wages, so those employees can retain their jobs and continue to earn income.
Temporary early access to superannuation allowed individuals affected by COVID-19 to access up to $10,000 of their superannuation in 2019–20, and a further $10,000 in 2020–21.
The cash flow boost provides tax-free cash flow support of between $20,000 and $100,000 to eligible businesses, delivered through credits in the activity statement system, when eligible businesses lodge their activity statements.
In July and August 2020, the government announced extensions to the early release of super and JobKeeper measures.
On 6 October 2020 as part of the 2020–21 Budget, the government announced a new incentive for businesses to employ additional young job seekers. This is called the JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme.
The JobMaker Hiring Credit is a wage subsidy paid directly to employers, to help accelerate growth in employment. An eligible employer may receive payments for up to 12 months for each eligible additional employee hired between 7 October 2020 and 6 October 2021.
We are committed to maintaining the integrity of the tax and superannuation system. This data-matching program will enable to us to obtain data from Services Australia and state and territory correctional facility regulators to help us confirm eligibility for the measures. The data will also support post-issue compliance work, enabling us to follow-up any potentially false or misleading declarations.
Our data-matching programs follow the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s (OAIC) Guidelines on data matching in Australian government administration (2014). The guidelines assist Australian government agencies to use data-matching as an administrative tool in a way that complies with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) and are consistent with good privacy practice.