Source: https://www.drivetax.com.au/uber-covid-19/
Timestamp: 2020-08-04 06:15:42
Document Index: 159716091

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 1', 'art 1', 'art 2', 'art 3', 'art 1', 'art 2', 'art 2']

Uber Driver's Guide to JobKeeper, JobSeeker & Coronavirus Payments
JobKeeper, JobSeeker & COVID-19 Support for Uber Drivers
COVID-19 & Coronavirus Support Payments & Tax Info for Uber and Rideshare Drivers
Updated Tuesday 21st of July 2020
JobKeeper Changes in September: On the 21st of July the government announced changes to JobKeeper that will be effective from the 28th of September onwards.
This means you will still get the $1,500 September JobKeeper payment that would be paid to you in early October under the old rules, with no eligibility test. The first payment under the new rules will be the payment for October that would be paid to your bank account in early November.
There will be new eligibility tests in order to keep receiving JobKeeper payments beyond the 28th of September (i.e. the early November payment) so that only people who still have decreased income will continue to receive the payments.
Business owners must pass the relevant ‘30% decline in turnover’ test for both the June 2020 quarter and September 2020 quarter compared to the same quarters in 2019 (there will be alternative tests but I don’t have that information yet).
This means if your income has increased back up to within 30% of pre-COVID levels you will no longer be eligible for JobKeeper after your early October payment. However if there is a new lockdown in your city in the future and you have to stop driving again and you pass the 30% test again then you can go back on JobKeeper.
Also, the JobKeeper payment amount will decrease from the 28th of September (i.e. the early November payment), and the amount you receive will now depend on how many hours you worked on average in the month of February 2020:
If in February 2020 you worked on average 20+ hours per week your JobKeeper payment will go down as follows:
$1,200/fn from 28th of September 2020 to 3rd January 2021
$1,000/fn from 3rd of January 2021 to 28th of March 2021
If in February 2020 you worked on average less than 20 hours per week your JobKeeper payment will go down as follows:
$750/fn from 28th of September 2020 to 3rd January 2021
$650/fn from 3rd of January 2021 to 28th of March 2021
I do not have details yet on how hours will be measured, how alternative eligibility tests will work, and all the other questions I know you may have.
I will do my best to post more information when I receive it, but I am extremely busy with tax time so it may take me a while. I’m sorry I cannot answer questions via email. Instead please keep checking back here. As soon as I have more information I will post it here first!
JobKeeper Monthly Declaration on MyGov: To receive your JobKeeper payment each month you must submit your Monthly Declaration on MyGov. Your payment will then arrive 3-4 business days later.
Entering JobKeeper Payments in the DriveTax Spreadsheet: If you use the DriveTax Bookkeeping Spreadsheet I’ve added instructions below on how to enter your JobKeeper payments in your spreadsheet. If you don’t yet have the spreadsheet, subscribe above to get a free copy.
Declaring JobKeeper and JobSeeker on your BAS & Tax Return: JobKeeper and JobSeeker are not included in your BAS, but they must be included in your tax return. How to declare them depends on what kind of payment you received, jump down to the link below to learn more.
If you’d like to be added to our email list for Coronavirus updates from Centrelink and the ATO, plus general rideshare tax information, subscribe above to our Free Uber Tax Info Pack.
JobKeeper & the 30% Turnover Test
JobKeeper & the Alternative Tests
JobKeeper & Employment
JobKeeper & Late Tax Returns & BAS’s
JobKeeper & Visas
How to Submit the Monthly Declaration
Other JobKeeper FAQ’s
How Much Can I Earn While On JobKeeper?
Am I Required to Drive While On JobKeeper?
Declaring JobKeeper Income to Centrelink While on JobSeeker
Entering JobKeeper in the DriveTax Spreadsheet
Don’t Declare JobKeeper on your BAS
How To Declare JobKeeper & JobSeeker on your Tax Return
How to Report JobKeeper Payments to Centrelink
With the spread of the Coronavirus, Uber and Rideshare drivers are one of many industries being hit hard. I’m speaking to many drivers right now who are struggling with fewer trips, much lower income and of course concerns for their health and safety.
The Australian government and media is telling us that there are Centrelink payments for Uber and rideshare drivers, and that the ATO is also offering coronavirus support. But exact details are hard to find, and I’m hearing lots of people are confused about how to get help.
So in this post I’ll summarise for you as best I can the JobKeeper and JobSeeker benefits for Uber, rideshare and food delivery drivers. I’ll also explain the ATO’s Coronavirus tax breaks and help available for Uber drivers who are affected by COVID-19, plus other government support that may be available to you.
Things are changing every day, but I’ll keep this as up to date as I can. Please note that I do not specialise in Centrelink or welfare payments and so I cannot advise on your specific eligibility, you will need to contact Centrelink by phone or online. But I hope the information here will give you a clearer picture and explain your next steps.
Centrelink for Uber Drivers – TWO OPTIONS
The Australian Government has now provided two alternative options that are relevant to Uber Drivers:
Option 1 – JobKeeper Payment – $1,500 per fortnight, administered through the ATO
Option 2 – JobSeeker Payment + Coronavirus Supplement – around $1,100 per fortnight, administered through Centrelink
JobKeeper vs JobSeeker – Which One Is Better?
The JobKeeper Payment is the one that puts the most money in your pocket.
If you’re not 100% sure you’re eligible for the JobKeeper Payment, I recommend registering your Intent To Claim for the JobSeeker Payment now as well, just in case (instructions below). That way, if it turns out you can’t get JobKeeper you can then submit your application for JobSeeker (it’s a long and painful process so you don’t want to do it unless absolutely necessary!) and the ATO will backdate your JobSeeker Payment to the date you registered your intent.
OPTION ONE – ATO JobKeeper Payment for Uber Drivers
The JobKeeper Payment was announced on the 30th of March. The payment is intended to keep Australian businesses and employees ‘in hibernation’ until the coronavirus crisis passes. The JobKeeper Payment is the largest payment available for Uber and rideshare drivers and sole-traders. You can find the ATO’s JobKeeper information page especially for sole traders here:
ATO – JobKeeper Payment – Information For Sole Traders
How Does JobKeeper Work?
Sole Traders will receive $1,500 per fortnight if their turnover has declined by more than 30%. The amount of $1,500 is the same for everyone regardless of how much or how little they were earning on their ABN. The ATO will pay the money at the end of each month once the sole-trader has reported the month’s turnover.
The JobKeeper Payment will start on the 30th March, with the first payments to be received by sole traders in the first week of May. Payments will run for a maximum of six months.
To answer a frequently asked question, yes you can still keep driving while you’re receiving the JobKeeper Payment if you want to. You do not have to pass the 30% decline test again, so you do not need to keep your income below 70%. You only need to continue meeting the other eligibility criteria, which is primarily that you don’t have a full time or part time job.
Note that the JobKeeper Payment is taxable income just the same as your Uber income was. The ATO will not withhold any tax from the payments they send you, so you should put aside some savings for your end of year tax bill if necessary, just as you normally would. GST does not apply to JobKeeper Payments.
The main eligibility factors are a 30% decline in turnover, no part-time or full-time employee job, up to date tax lodgments and citizenship/visa requirements.
30% Decline In Turnover
To be eligible for the JobKeeper Payment your must show that your turnover “has fallen or is likely to fall by at least 30% relative to a corresponding period a year ago”. You can choose any of the following periods to compare:
March 2020 compared to March 2019
Projected April 2020 turnover compared to April 2019
Projected April-June 2020 quarter turnover compared to April-June 2019 quarter
To answer a frequently asked question, if you drive for multiple companies (Uber, DiDi, Ola etc), they are added together for the purposes of the 30% test. This is because as a sole-trader you do not have ‘jobs’, you are running a business, so all of your rideshare and food delivery income forms part of your one business under your one ABN.
If you don’t meet the 30% decline rule but your income has dropped below $1,075 per fortnight you can apply for the JobSeeker Payment instead.
Turnover is your gross income before deducting your expenses. To calculate your Uber turnover, refer to your Uber monthly tax summary. Turnover = the Total under ‘Fare Breakdown’ + the Total under ‘Other Income Breakdown’ (i.e. the two top sections). Do not subtract Uber Fees or any other items, and do not subtract GST.
If you drive for other companies the process is similar, just add up all of the income items, do not subtract any fees and do not adjust for GST
The ATO have now published the Alternative Turnover Tests for cases where the basic 30% turnover test isn’t appropriate in your particular circumstances. Here’s how they work:
If you were not driving a year ago you can calculate your comparison month as follows:
If you started driving 1 May 19 – 30 Nov 19, you can choose from either of the following tests:
take your turnover for Dec 19 + Jan 20 + Feb 20 and divide that by 3
take your turnover for each whole month up to including Feb 20 (i.e. don’t include the month you started driving, use the month after you started driving through to the month of February) and divide that by the number of whole months in that time.
If you started driving 1 Dec 19 – 31 Jan 20, take your turnover for each whole month up to including Feb 20 (i.e. don’t include the month you started driving, use the month after you started driving through to Feb) and divide that by the number of whole months in that time. However please note that if you started driving in Jan, unless you are registered for GST monthly you will not be eligible for JobKeeper under the BAS & Tax Lodgments date rules. See further below for more.
If you started driving 1 Feb 20 – 29 Feb 20, take your turnover for Feb, divide by the number of days since you started driving until the end of Feb, and then multiply by 2019. However please note that if you started driving in Feb, unless you are registered for GST monthly you will not be eligible for JobKeeper under the BAS & Tax Lodgments date rules. See further below for more.
If you had a substantial increase in turnover, for example a year ago you were driving part time and more recently you changed to driving full time:
To be eligible to use this turnover test you must meet one of the following requirements:
Your turnover increased by 50% in the 12 months immediately before the applicable turnover test period (March or April), OR
Your turnover increased by 25% in the 6 months immediately before the applicable turnover test period (March or April), OR
Your turnover increased by 12.5% in the 3 months immediately before the applicable turnover test period (March or April)
If you pass one of those tests, then your comparison month is calculated as follows:
Turnover for Dec 19 + Jan 20 + Feb 20 divided by 3, compared to March 20
Turnover for Jan 20 + Feb 20 + March 20 divided by 3, compared to April 20
If you had an injury, sickness or leave, for example you were on an overseas holiday last year in March and April) you can use the month immediately after the month in which you return to work as you comparison month
Note that you can only use these Alternative Tests if the specified circumstances apply to you. For example if you were driving a year ago you must use the primary test, you cannot choose to use the alternative tests for people not driving a year ago. Also note that the ATO have specifically said “the Commissioner cannot make discretionary decisions for individual entities”.
ATO – JobKeeper Alternative Test
Employment + Uber
If you have a full time or part time employee job, you cannot claim the JobKeeper Payment as a sole trader. (This doesn’t apply to casual employees, they can still get JobKeeper if they meet all the other eligibility criteria). Permanent employees can only receive the JobKeeper Payment through their employer. This is true regardless of whether the employer is actually eligible for the JobKeeper Payment or not.
The government have brought in this rule because they assume if you have a full time or part time job, then EITHER:
your employer’s business has declined by 30% and so you will get the JobKeeper Payment of $1,500/fn (before tax) OR
your employer’s business has not declined by 30% and so you will get your normal wages.
Either way, you will be getting paid, and so you are not eligible for further government assistance.
If you lose your job entirely then you can claim the JobKeeper Payment as a sole-trader if you meet all the eligibility rules, or if you can’t pass the 30% test then you can claim the JobSeeker Payment instead.
BAS & Tax Lodgments
To be eligible for the JobKeeper Payment you must have lodged EITHER ONE of the following by the 12th of March:
A BAS for any quarter between 1 July 2018 and 31 December 2019 that included at least $1 of business income, OR
Your 2018-2019 tax return that included at least $1 of business income
This means that the following people WILL NOT be eligible for the JobKeeper Payment:
Rideshare drivers who started driving after the 31st of December 2019
Food delivery drivers who started driving after the 30th of June 2019
Just for clarity, if EITHER of the following apply to you then you DO pass this eligibility test:
If you were driving/riding/delivering anytime between 1 July 2018 and 31 December 2019 and you lodged at least one of those BAS’s before the 12th of March, OR
If you were driving/riding/delivering in the 2019 financial year and you lodged your 2019 tax return before the 12th of March, OR
If you were driving/riding/delivering in the 2019 financial year and as at the 12th of March your 2019 tax return was not due yet (e.g. you were registered with a tax agent, more on this in the next section)
If you are behind in your tax lodgments:
The ATO have published more information about ‘Commissioner’s Discretion’. If you had not lodged your 2019 tax return by the 12th of March because it was not due yet, then the ATO will apply discretion and allow you to claim JobKeeper.
For example, if you were on the tax lodgment list of DriveTax or another tax agent on the 12th of March and you lodged your 2018 tax return on time, then your 2019 tax return due date would have been the 15th of May so it was not overdue. Another example is if you were affected by bushfires, you had an automatic extension of your 2019 tax return due date.
If either of these apply to you and your 2019 tax return was not overdue as at the 12th of March then the Commissioner discretion is applied and you are still eligible for JobKeeper (subject to all the other criteria). Here’s a summary of what to do next:
If you have lodged a previous tax return with DriveTax, please email me to confirm that you were still on our tax lodgment list and that your 2019 tax return was not overdue as at the 12th of March. If so, then you can go ahead and apply for JobKeeper.
If you lodge your tax returns through a different tax agent, contact them to confirm you were still on their tax lodgment list as at the 12th of March and that your 2019 tax return is not overdue. If so, then you can go ahead and apply for JobKeeper.
If you have lodged a BAS with DriveTax but not a tax return you will not be on our tax lodgment list. If you were also not on any other tax agent’s lodgment list then your 2019 tax return will be overdue so you will be ineligible for JobKeeper.
If you are not on any tax agent’s tax lodgment list because you lodge your tax returns yourself, then your 2019 tax return is overdue so you will be ineligible for JobKeeper.
As a final note, remember, if you’re not entitled to the JobKeeper Payment there will still be the JobSeeker Payment, so you won’t be left with nothing. But I know the JobKeeper Payment is more money so of course that’s the one you would have preferred to get. I’m sorry this is bad news. In the meantime, scroll down to learn more about the JobSeeker Payment.
Treasury.gov.au – JobKeeper Payment Fact Sheet for Sole Traders
Legislation.gov.au – JobKeeper Payment Legislation
Legislation.gov.au – JobKeeper Payment Legislation Explanatory Statement
Regarding citizenship and visas, you can only receive the JobKeeper allowance if you are an Australian citizen, or the holder of a Permanent visa, a non-protected Special Category Visa who has been residing continually in Australia for 10 years or more, or a Special Category (Subclass 444) visa.
I know that rules out many of you, and although I very much hope that the Government will change their minds, at the moment they have said they will not expand these rules. I know this is an important question, so I will keep listening for more information and I will update this post right away if there is any more news.
Applying for JobKeeper is done in three steps:
1) The first step is Enrolment which opened on April 20. This is where you will calculate and confirm your eligibility for JobKeeper Payments.
2) The second step is Identification for the first month of payments, which opened on May 4th. Here you will confirm your number of employees (zero) and number of business participants (one = you), and confirm eligibility for payments for April. Then you will receive your JobKeeper Payment three business days later.
3) The third step, starting in early June, is the Monthly Declaration. You must submit this after the end of each month from June until October. You will confirm your turnover for that month, and estimate your turnover for the month ahead. Then you will receive your monthly JobKeeper Payment three business days later.
All of these steps are completed in MyGov, so you will need to register for MyGov if you haven’t already. If you cannot register for MyGov you can call the ATO’s coronavirus hotline on 1800 806 218, but be prepared for a long wait time.
Remember if you receive JobSeeker you MUST report your JobKeeper payments to Centrelink when you report your fortnightly income. Otherwise they will overpay you and you will have to pay it back.
Part 1 – Enrolment
Enrolments opened back on the 20th of April. If you wish to enrol for payments backdated to the 30th of March you must enrol by the 31st of May. If you were not eligible for March or April but you become eligible in later months you can still enrol after the 31st of May, but you won’t get those first month’s payments. Here’s how to enrol:
Step 1) Confirm that you pass all of the eligibility criteria mentioned above. The ATO will not assess your eligibility, you must do it yourself. If you enrol, and the ATO later find out you are not eligible then they will make you pay back the money you receive.
Step 2) Once you have confirmed you are eligible, log into your MyGov by heading to my.gov.au. For security reasons, never click on a link in an email, always type in the address yourself.
Step 3) Navigate to your ATO Business Portal and you should see a link for COVID-19. From there navigate to JobKeeper, and click on ‘Enrol Business for JobKeeper Wage Subsidies’
Step 4) Fill in the Enrolment Form. Here are some tips to help you:
Reduction in turnover – nominate which period you have experienced a 30% reduction in turnover compared to the same period last year. Most drivers were still driving in early March, so you will need to check carefully if your March 2020 Uber Monthly Summary (plus any other companies you drove/delivered for) is 30% less than March 2019. If you don’t pass this test, then do the same check for April 2020 compared to April 2019, which I’m sure most of you will pass. If you were not driving a year ago, see the section above titled ‘Alternative Tests’.
Eligible employees – answer zero to these questions
Are you enrolling as a sole trader – answer yes to this question
Do you meet the eligibility criteria – these are discussed in the ‘Am I Eligible’ section above if you need more information
Financial institution details for employing entity – this is just your regular personal bank account number. For account name, enter your name, not your bank’s name.
I’m sorry I simply cannot answer email questions about JobKeeper applications. There’s only one of me and not enough hours in the day to individually help you all! So instead I have done my best to make this blog post as detailed and helpful as possible, and to answer every question you may have right here.
The next step of the process is identification. This opened on the 4th of May and closes on the 31st of May, and can be completed on MyGov or by calling the ATO’s coronavirus hotline on 1800 806 218 (expect a long wait time).
Step 1) First you will need to calculate your Turnover for April 2020. Note that this will not affect your eligibility, your eligibility was locked in when you enrolled. This is only for the ATO’s data and statistics. So don’t worry about the 30% rule, that does not apply here and is no longer relevant going forwards.
If your Uber Monthly Summary is available, add up the Total under ‘Fare Breakdown’ + the Total under ‘Other Income Breakdown’ (i.e. the two top sections).
If your Uber Monthly Summary is not available then we must use the Weekly Summaries
In your Uber account go to Payment Statements > Statements. Find the first payment for April and click View Statement.
Add up all of the positive numbers, do not include the negative numbers. This is your Turnover for the week.
Repeat this for all of the weeks where the Payment Date is in April.
If you drive for DiDi
If your Monthly Tax Summary is available, add up all of the numbers on the left hand side only
If your Monthly Tax Summary is not available, just use your bank deposits
If you drive for other rideshare or food delivery companies, they don’t break down their fees in the same way Uber does, so you can just use your bank deposits.
If you did not drive at all, then your answer will be $0
If you have other income on your ABN, you must include this also (inclusive of GST)
JobSeeker payments are not included in Turnover (don’t forget to notify them when you JobKeeper payments begin!)
Step 2) Next you must estimate your Projected Turnover for May 2020. This does not have to be exact, the ATO understands that estimating is difficult in these current times. Your estimate will not affect your eligibility for JobKeeper, again it is only for the ATO’s statistics.
For Uber, estimate your bank deposits for the month, and then multiply by 1.4. This is an approximation to add back Uber’s Service Fee, Booking Fees, Split Fare Fees etc which must be included in ‘Turnover’. Again, remember this does not affect your JobKeeper or your taxes, it is just an estimate for the ATO to use in their own projections, so it does not need to be exact.
For Didi, estimate your bank deposits for the month, and then multiply by 1.15.
For other rideshare and delivery companies, just estimate the total you would receive in your bank account for the month.
If you do not plan to drive at all, then your answer will be $0
JobSeeker payments are not included in Turnover
Step 3) Log into MyGov (be careful to use trusted links and avoid scams), and follow the links for COVID-19 and JobKeeper. You should see your first step of Enrolment completed (if not go, back to Part 1 above). Click the button for part 2 which is Identify.
Step 4) Fill in the questions as follows:
Select Month – April
JobKeeper Status – Claim FN 1 & 2
Add Eligible Employees – No
Turnover for April – fill in your total as calculated above
Projected Turnover for May – fill in your estimate as calculated above
Check your bank details are correct
Once you have completed this process the ATO will send your JobKeeper Payment three business days later (although your bank may have extra processing time). That is the end of the process for now, until next month.
Step 5) *Important* If you are currently receiving the JobSeeker Payment you MUST advise Centrelink of your JobKeeper Payment when you next report your income. Otherwise they may overpay you and you will have to pay it back. In terms of timing, just look at the date your JobKeeper payment arrived in your bank, that is the relevant date when you report the income to Centrelink. It doesn’t matter that the money relates to previous JobKeeper fortnights, Centrelink only looks at the date you actually received the money.
Part 3 – Monthly Declaration
After the end of each month you must repeat the monthly totals and estimates in order to receive your payments. next step of the process is identification. The first Monthly Declaration will be in the first week of June. You will get your next monthly JobKeeper payment 3-4 business days after you submit the form. You will repeat this each month until October (the last JobKeeper month is September).
The form and submission process is essentially the same as the Identify form in Step 2 above.
Step 1) First you will need to calculate your Turnover for the month that just ended. Note that this will not affect your eligibility, your eligibility was locked in when you enrolled. This is only for the ATO’s data and statistics. So don’t worry about the 30% rule, that does not apply here.
If your Uber Monthly Summary is available, add up the Total under Fare Breakdown + the Total under Other Income Breakdown (i.e. the two top sections).
In your Uber account go to Payment Statements > Statements. Find the first payment for the month and click View Statement.
Repeat this for all of the weeks where the Payment Date is in the month you are declaring for.
Step 2) Next you must estimate your Projected Turnover for the Next Month. This does not have to be exact, the ATO understands that estimating is difficult in these current times. Your estimate will not affect your eligibility for JobKeeper, again it is only for the ATO’s statistics.
Step 3) Log into MyGov (be careful to use trusted links and avoid scams), and follow the links for COVID-19 and JobKeeper. You should see your first step of Enrolment completed (if not go, back to Part 1 above). Click the button for Step 3 which is Declare.
Under the heading GST Turnover, you must fill in two figures:
Current Month Turnover – this is the month that just ended. Fill in your total as calculated above
Projected Turnover for Coming Month – this is the month that just began. Fill in your estimate as calculated above
Again, your payment should arrive 3-4 business days after you submit this form (although your bank may have extra processing time).
Step 5) *Important* If you are currently receiving the JobSeeker Payment you MUST continue to advise Centrelink of your JobKeeper Payments as part of reporting your income. Otherwise they may overpay you and you will have to pay it back. In terms of timing, just look at the date your JobKeeper payment arrived in your bank, that is the relevant date when you report the income to Centrelink. It doesn’t matter that the money relates to previous JobKeeper fortnights, Centrelink only looks at the date you actually received the money.
Can I (Or Do I Have To) Keep Driving?
Once you have qualified for JobKeeper (e.g. by passing the 30% decline in turnover test) and enrolled with the ATO (Step 1 above), your sole-trader business is automatically eligible for JobKeeper right through until it ends at the end of September, there are no further income or eligibility tests. This means you are free to earn as much income on your ABN as you can, you do not have to stay below 30%. (Do note that it’s possible that you become an ineligible person, for example if you take a part-time or full-time employee job then you must stop claiming JobKeeper as a sole-trader.)
*Update* There will be eligibility tests in order to keep receiving JobKeeper payments beyond the 28th of September. Please see the notes at the top of this post for more detail.
On the other side of the coin, what if you don’t want to return to driving right away when lockdowns are lifted due to the health and safety concerns of coronavirus? That is 100% acceptable as well. The JobKeeper rules require that your business is ‘active’, but that can include being dormant or ‘in hibernation’. Your income or working hours are not a factor in your eligibility. The only thing I recommend you do is be sure to keep your ABN and your GST registration (if applicable) active, and just lodge Nil BAS’s for the quarters where you don’t drive (if you’re a rideshare driver). This will show the ATO that you intend to return to driving when safe to do so.
Entering JobKeeper In Your DriveTax Spreadsheet
* Updated for Version 2020.06 of the spreadsheet *
Version 2020.06 – The new version of the spreadsheet, released in late June 2020, has been updated to include JobKeeper. You’ll find this in the orange section of the spreadsheet. There are two important rules to keep in mind:
Timing of Payments – JobKeeper payments are recognised by the ATO on the date you receive the payment. It doesn’t matter if the payment relates to earlier fortnights or months, it only matters which date it arrived in your bank account. For example, you received payments for fortnights 5 and 6 which were in June 2020, and the payment reached your bank account in July 2020. You should enter this in the July JobKeeper field of your 2020-2021 spreadsheet, and it is declared in your 2021 tax return.
Don’t include Employee JobKeeper – if you received JobKeeper from an employer, do not include it in your spreadsheet. Only JobKeeper payments you received as a sole trader under your ABN must be included.
Version 2020.02 – When I built the previous version of the spreadsheet back in February, I could never have imagined something like coronavirus and JobKeeper, so unfortunately the spreadsheet isn’t built to manage a payment like this! But that’s okay, you do not have to change spreadsheets. Just follow the Tax Return instructions below to enter your JobKeeper payments directly into your tax return. I recommend that you keep using your existing spreadsheet until 30 June and then switch to the new version from 1 July. (You should have received the new version via email on the 27th of June, please email me if you didn’t receive it).
If you don’t already have the DriveTax Spreadsheet, jump up to the very top of the page and enter your email address to get your free copy!
Do Not Declare JobKeeper In Your BAS
JobKeeper payments are not considered ‘Sales’, so they are not included in your BAS, and GST does not apply.
Declaring JobKeeper & JobSeeker In Your Tax Return
How to declare your government COVID-19 benefits depends on how you received them. Here’s what you need to do:
JobSeeker from Centrelink – Centrelink will put your JobSeeker payments into your prefilling report in MyGov, similar to an employee payment summary. You’ll declare your JobSeeker payments at Item 5 in your tax return, ‘Australian Government Allowances and Payments’. If you prepare your tax return on MyTax this should automatically import to Item 5 from your prefill. Or if you lodge your tax return through DriveTax you don’t have to supply anything, we will download your information from the ATO for you.
JobKeeper from your Employer – if you are an employee and got JobKeeper through your employer it will be included in your end of year Payment Summary. It won’t be separately listed, just included in your total wages. So you just have to declare your employee wages in your tax return as normal. Again this should come through in your prefilling report automatically. (Remember it’s not compulsory for employers to give you a payment summary anymore because it’s available on MyGov)
JobKeeper as a Sole Trader – if you are not an employee and you got JobKeeper through your ABN as a sole trader, then you must add your JobKeeper payments into the business schedule of your tax return. Look for a field called ‘Assessable Government Industry Payments’ in the income section of the business schedule and enter your JobKeeper payments there. Remember to only include payments that you received to your bank account during the financial year. So in our example from earlier, if you received JobKeeper payments for fortnights 5 and 6 which were in June 2020 then the payment would have reached your bank account in July 2020 (which is the 2021 financial year). So do not include that payment in your 2020 tax return, it belongs in your 2021 tax return. The maximum you will declare in your 2020 tax return is $6,000, being the payments you received to your bank in May and June. Or if you missed the first JobKeeper payments and started from the second one then you will have $3,000 to declare.
Eligibility – How To Calculate Turnover – scroll up to the section above titled ‘Am I Eligible for JobKeeper – How To Calculate Turnover’
Eligibility – Not Trading A Year Ago – scroll up to the section above titled ‘Am I Eligible for JobKeeper – Alternative Tests’
Eligibility – Late Lodging Tax Returns or BAS’s – scroll up to the section above titled ‘Am I Eligible for JobKeeper – BAS & Tax Lodgments’
Calculating & Estimating Turnover – see Part 2, Steps 1 & 2
One last note, if you are currently receiving JobSeeker Payment you must report your JobKeeper Payment when you report your income to Centrelink, otherwise they may overpay you and you’ll have a debt to pay back. You will likely need to cancel your JobSeeker Payment from this point forward because the JobKeeper Payment will take over.
Business Australia – JobKeeper Payment For Sole Traders
Treasury Australia – Fact Sheet – JobKeeper Payment
OPTION TWO – Centrelink JobSeeker Payment for Uber Drivers
The JobSeeker Payment is Australia’s primary unemployment support payment. It was previously called Newstart, and commonly known as ‘the dole’. For Uber drivers, this is the backup option if you’re not eligible for the JobKeeper Payments because you can’t pass the 30% Decline In Income rules.
Single, No Children – $565.70/fn immediately + $550/fn Coronavirus Supplement from April 27th
Single, With Children – $612.00/fn immediately + $550/fn Coronavirus Supplement from April 27th
Partnered – $510.80/fn immediately + $550/fn Coronavirus Supplement from April 27th
The amount of payment you receive begins to reduce if you earn more than $104 per fortnight or if your partner earns more than $994 per fortnight. The point where the JobSeeker Payment cuts out completely depends on your circumstances. You can read more here.
If you are eligible for the JobSeeker Payment you’ll also automatically receive the full Coronavirus Supplement of $550/fortnight and the $750 one-off Household Support Payment, more on these below.
Finally, if you rent your home you may also be eligible for Rent Assistance, which can be up to $139 extra per fortnight. This is an add on to the JobSeeker Payment, and Centrelink will add this for you during the application process, you don’t have to apply separately.
The requirements for the JobSeeker Payment have been reduced in order to expand access. For sole traders, which includes rideshare and food delivery drivers, the assets test and waiting times have been waived. Centrelink’s requirements now are that you meet the residence rules and that your net income has fallen below $1,075 per fortnight (i.e. income minus deductions). As of the 27th of April the partner income threshold changes to $3,067 per fortnight or $79,762 per year, prior to that it is $1,846 per fortnight, or $47,970 per year.
Centrelink – JobSeeker Payment
Note that if you’re of pension age you won’t be eligible for the JobSeeper Payment nor the Coronavirus Supplement. If this applies to you JobKeeper may be your best bet if you’re eligible.
If you’re a Temporary Resident or on a Student Visa, the situation is not clear. It seems that the government is still deciding whether eligibility will be expanded. Right now it seems that existing eligibility and residency rules are still in place. But some waiting periods have already been waived for those in the process of becoming citizens, and it is possible that more eligibility restrictions will be lifted. We will need to wait for more information and decisions from the government.
ABC News – Temporary Residents and International Students in Limbo
Please note that there are many different visa categories, the rules are changing fast, and Centrelink is not my area of expertise. So I’m sorry I cannot advise you on your eligibility. Please wait for more information to be announced in the media, or contact Centrelink directly via phone or online.
If your income has dropped below $1,075 per fortnight, and you wish to apply for the JobSeeker Payment, the first thing you need to do is Register Your Intention To Claim. This tells Centrelink the date that you wanted to first apply from. So even if their application process takes a while (understandable given how many people are affected right now), they will backdate any payments you are eligible for to the date you registered your intent.
If you already have a MyGov account that is linked to Medicare or the ATO, then it is very easy to register your intent. Just log into your MyGov and you should see a popup asking you if you want to register your intention to claim. If you don’t already have a MyGov account linked to the ATO or Medicare, this website explains what to do next.
Centrelink – How To Register Your Intention To Claim
Please DO NOT GO TO A CENTRELINK OFFICE. They are overwhelmed, and it is dangerous for the spread of the virus, both for others and for you and your family. You can do the whole application and ID check online without going to a Centrelink office.
The Coronavirus Supplement is a $550/fortnight additional payment on top of the JobSeeker or certain other Centrelink payments. Coronavirus Supplement Payments begin on April 27th and will run for six months.
You can find more information on eligibility here:
Treasury Australia – Fact Sheet – Coronavirus Supplement Payment
ABC News – Coronavirus Supplement Payment – What Is It and How To Apply
Once you are registered for one of the above payments from Centrelink, you will get the additional supplement payment automatically starting from the 27th of April. You don’t have to do anything else.
More Information About Centrelink Payments For Uber Drivers
For more information about the Centrelink JobSeeker Payment, visit their dedicated Coronavirus Support page. Please note that I cannot answer your questions about Centrelink benefits, Centrelink is separate from the Tax Office so this is not my area of expertise. However I will do my best to keep this post updated with the latest information announced by the government and links to further assistance. If you want more information about how the payments and benefits apply to you, please read the online information first. If you must contact Centrelink please do so via phone or online.
Centrelink – Payments For Those Affected By Coronavirus
Centrelink Household Support Payments for Uber Drivers
The Government is also making two one-off payments of $750 to eligible Australians.
Household Support Payment #1 – $750 – after 31st March
You must be residing in Australia and be receiving one of the following payments, or hold one of the following concession cards, at any time from 12 March 2020 to 13 April 2020, inclusive. If you are eligible for the first Household Support Payment you will receive it automatically, you do not need to do anything.
Please note that we’re not sure yet whether JobKeeper Payment recipients are eligible for the First Household Support Payment. I will update here once we find out.
DVA PCC holders;
DVA Education Scheme recipients; Disability Pensioners at the temporary special rate; DVA Income support pensioners at $0 rate.
Household Support Payment #2 – $750 – after 13th July
The second payment is for people receive one of the above payments at any time from 12 March 2020 to 13 April 2020 inclusive AND who are NOT eligible for the Coronavirus Supplement Payment mentioned above ($550/fortnight). It is particularly aimed at seniors and pensioners.
If this applies to you and you are eligible for the second Household Support Payment you will receive it automatically, you do not need to do anything.
Treasury Australia – Fact Sheet – Coronavirus Household Support Payment
How To Apply For Centrelink As An Uber Driver
Applying For The JobSeeker Payment As An Uber Driver
If you are applying for the JobSeeker Payment rather than the JobKeeper Payment, here is some information to help you with the process.
Before you begin, check out the instructions from ABC News on how to start the Centrelink application process. This is an excellent guide on how to connect your MyGov and begin your claim.
ABC News – How To Apply For Centrelink JobSeeker and Coronavirus Payments
The following notes will hopefully help with some of the specific questions Centrelink will ask about your rideshare and food delivery income.
Employment – note that Uber is not employment, it is a business. For employment these questions you should only mention jobs where you were an employee under your TFN, don’t include Uber in these questions.
In the preliminary questions you should answer that you’re involved in one business in Australia (or more if you have other income on your ABN aside from rideshare/food delivery), and that you do not operate through a company, you are a sole-trader.
For the question asking if you’re still trading, answer yes if you’re still driving even a little and enter your hours accordingly. If you’ve stopped driving altogether you can answer no, but you will be asked to provide evidence, which will mean cancelling your ABN and GST Registration. You can do this by calling the ATO on 13 28 66. Then once you ABN record has updated on the Australian Business Register you can save a PDF of this screen and upload it to Centrelink. I’m not sure whether it may be easier to just report you’re still trading and list one hour of Uber driving? Let me know what works for you!
The last question in this section asks if your income has changed since your last tax return. If your Uber income has decreased because of Coronavirus you should answer yes.
Income & Expenses – For instructions on reporting your income and expenses please scroll down below to the section ‘How to Complete a Centrelink Profit & Loss’.
Assets & Liabilities – type these into a document, save it as a PDF, and then upload this to the ATO.
If you own your car you will list it as an asset, and if you have a loan you’ll list that as a liability. For most Uber drivers these will be the only items on your list.
If you rent or lease your car then you do not own it, so don’t include it here
If you have outstanding ATO debts these are also liabilities, but don’t include BAS’s or tax returns you haven’t lodged yet.
If you keep a bank account that is 100% for Uber then you should include it as an asset.
Your personal/general bank accounts and credit cards should not be included
No need to list small assets such as your mobile phone.
Depreciation Schedule – This question is more for bigger businesses with lots of assets such as retail stores or construction companies, it’s not so important for a very small business with only a car. If your car was depreciated in your last tax return, answer yes when they ask you if you have a depreciation schedule and send them that page from your tax return. If not, you can use the ATO’s depreciation calculator, or just answer no that you do not have a depreciation schedule. (Please let me know via email if this works and I’ll update this post accordingly!)
Balance Sheet – answer no to this question, the ATO doesn’t require micro-businesses such as rideshare drivers to generate Balance Sheets.
How To Complete A Centrelink Profit & Loss
If Centrelink have asked you to fill out their Profit & Loss Form, here are some tips to help you.
Dates – Centrelink should tell you which dates they want you to report for, as it may be a month or a quarter or a year. Enter the dates at the bottom of page 1 at question 10.
Gross Income – This is entered at the top of page 2 on Centrelink’s form, Label A.
Rideshare & Food Delivery Income – Add up the total payments you received in your bank account from Uber and any other companies you drive/deliver for. If you are registered for GST then divide your total by 1.1. If you are not registered for GST then do not divide.
JobKeeper Income – you must include your JobKeeper income here. GST does not apply to JobKeeper so do not divide by 1.1.
Depreciation – Depreciation is the most difficult question, so if you want to skip it and write $0 that is okay, especially if your car is older and the depreciation is low. If you do want to enter depreciation, the form asks you to calculate your year total and then divide that by the period of time you’re reporting for. So if for example you’re reporting a month worth of income and expenses, you’ll write both your whole year’s depreciation and then your depreciation divided by 12.
If you claimed depreciation on your car in your 2019 tax return under the small business rules, check your ‘SBE Pool Closing Balance’. Assuming you’ll write this balance off in your 2020 tax return now that the write-off threshold has been increased to $150,000, your Closing Balance from 2019 will be your depreciation claim for 2020.
If you bought a car from the 1st of July 2019 to the 11th of March 2020 costing below $30,000, or from the 12th of March to the 30th of June 2020 costing below $150,000, then your depreciation is 100% of the cost of the car excluding GST
If you bought a car during the 2020 financial year that was over the relevant threshold at the purchase date, then your depreciation will be 15% of the purchase price excluding GST.
If you used regular depreciation instead of small business depreciation (i.e. 25% diminishing value) you’ll need to check the ATO website or talk to your accountant.
Insurance – enter your annual car insurance multiplied by your business percentage, if you are GST registered then divide by 1.1, and then divide that across the period of time you’re reporting for on your Centrelink form.
Interest – if you have a car loan you’ll need to check your account for your interest. Don’t forget to adjust for your business use percentage. Then divide for the period of time you’re reporting for.
Levies, Licences & Fees – for Uber drivers this might include driver authorisations, licences, permits and so on. Enter your annual totals and then divide for the period of time you’re reporting for.
Registration – your car registration multiplied by your business percentage, then divide for the period of time you’re reporting for.
Rent and Rates – this does not apply. Do not include your home here, this is only meant for retail stores or workshops who rent commercial premises.
Motor Vehicle Running Costs – add up all your fuel, maintenance, and any other car expenses not included above from your bank transactions and multiply by your business percentage. If you rent your rideshare vehicle, include it here too. (If you have a loan, do not include your repayments here, instead enter your interest and depreciation as above.) If you are GST registered then divide GST expenses by 1.1,
Telephone – your mobile phone bills multiplied by your business use percentage (just an estimated percentage is fine), and if you are GST registered then divide by 1.1.
Other – this may include tolls (but only tolls between trips, the tolls while on trips are already included in your Uber payments), water, mints, and any other Uber related expenses. If you are GST registered then divide any GST expenses by 1.1,
Expenses You Can’t Include – donations, personal health or life insurance, superannuation contributions, coffees, meals, clothing, personal expenses, fines, carried forward losses, or the purchase price of a car.
Centrelink understand that the application process is difficult for small businesses. They don’t expect you to know all the tax laws yourself, and they know not everyone can afford to have an accountant do it for them. So please don’t be worried, it’s okay to just fill out the forms as best you can, and if they have further questions for you they will ask you.
If you would like DriveTax to fill in the form for you, our fee is $97. You will first need to summarise all of the above figures, and then please email them to us and we will provide further instructions. Do note though that the form itself is the easy part, so once you have gathered and added up all the numbers you have already done the hardest part! So I recommend giving the form a try yourself first, hopefully the instructions above will help and you can avoid paying accountant’s fees.
ATO Coronavirus Support for Uber Drivers
Please note that in all of the options below, the ATO still requires you to lodge your BAS’s and tax returns on time, even if you’re not able to pay right away. The ATO are generally happy to put payment arrangements in place that will work for you in your current circumstances, but first you must submit your lodgements on time and have no overdue BAS’s or tax returns.
Here are the links to our BAS Lodgment and Tax Return Lodgment pages. I’ll be fast-tracking our services for anyone who needs their BAS or tax return lodged in order to access Centrelink benefits ASAP.
If you’re not able to lodge your tax return or BAS because you can’t afford to pay accountant’s fees right now, the ATO will understand. Call the ATO’s Emergency Support line on 1800 806 218 before the due date and chat to them about alternative arrangements.
Standard Payment Arrangements
You can set up a standard payment arrangement for any tax bill via your MyGov or by calling the ATO’s automated service. A standard payment arrangement requires you to pay 10%-20% up front and then the rest over a period of up to two years.
ATO – Payment Arrangements and Help With Paying
If you need more time to pay due to COVID-19, you can call and talk to the ATO. They may be able to offer deferred due dates for payments that were due after the 23rd of January, and also low interest or interest-free payment arrangements. You will need to call the ATO’s Emergency Support line on 1800 806 218.
ATO – Coronavirus Support Measures
If you have to pay PAYG Instalments as part of your quarterly BAS, but your income is now lower, you can reduce your PAYG Instalments, and in some cases claim back instalments for previous quarters. We can help you with this as part of our Express BAS service.
If your income has not reduced, but you need cashflow relief now, you can call the ATO’s Emergency Support line on 1800 806 218 and ask them to withdraw your PAYG Instalments. However you will still need to pay the tax eventually on your end of year tax return.
ATO – Coronavirus PAYG Instalment Measures
Other Coronavirus Benefits For Rideshare Drivers
The ATO has increased the Instant Asset Write-Off threshold from $30,000 to $150,000 until the 31st of December 2020. This applies both to new or used car purchases and also to existing assets that are still being depreciated in your tax return. If you choose to prepare your tax return through DriveTax we will chat to you about claiming the Write-Off as part of preparing your tax return.
Treasury Australia – Coronavirus Instant Asset Write-Off
The four major banks have agreed on a range of measures, including lowering interest rates and repayment holidays of up to six months. You will need to contact your bank directly to find out about their specific eligibility requirements.
ABC News – Coronavirus Mortgage Repayment Holidays
The government is currently working on measures for renters and landlords as a priority, and we should expect announcements in the next few days. I’ll update this post as soon as we have news.
Eligible individuals will be allowed to access up to $10,000 from their superannuation between now and the 1st of July 2020, and another $10,000 for approximately three months from the 1st of July 2020. Note that with markets low right now, withdrawing from super will have a large impact on your long-term retirement savings. So you should consider this a last resort, and if you are able to you should first seek financial advice. Many super funds can provide this for you free of charge.
ATO – Coronavirus Early Access To Super
We are seeing many reports of scammers taking advantage of people during these already difficult times. Here are some tips on how to stay safe:
If a company or government asks you to register or to input ANY personal information be very cautious. Go to that company’s website and independently check it is legitimate, then login or register directly from their website. If you email or call them, use the contact details on their website, not on the email you received as they may be fake.
Remember, legitimate organisations, including the ATO, Centrelink, banks, government departments, Amazon, PayPal, Google, Apple and Facebook – will never call or email you to verify or update your personal information. If you recieve a request like this it is almost certainly a scam.
When logging into an online account, never go there by clicking on an email or social media link. Instead, go your internet browser and type in the web address, use your bookmarks or favourites if you already have the site saved, or use Google. It’s safer to assume that email links are malicious and navigate to your accounts the long way instead.
Whenever you’re entering personal information online, get into the habit of first checking the URL (the ‘www’ address) at the top of your internet browser. Lots of scam websites trick you by just having one letter different, or having a different ending (the .com or .com.au or .net part). You can double-check by Googling the company’s main website. If you’re using a Government service like the ATO or Centrelink, the web address should always end in .gov.au.
If you’re unsure about an email, check the email address of the sender to make sure it’s the same as other times the company has contacted you. You can also put the sender’s email address into Google to see if anyone reports malicious activity. On a computer you can hover your mouse over web links to see if they look authentic before you click them. Never open an email attachment that you weren’t already expecting to receive.
Also beware of false coronavirus or health information, and don’t rely on social media or word of mouth for news or advice. Trusted websites like Australia.gov.au and ABC News are your best sources of information.
The Australian Cyber Security Centre has put together a detailed guide to the cyber threats that have arisen in connection to coronavirus, including specific scams that have been circulating. You can read more here:
Australian Cyber Security Centre – COVID-19 Threat Update
More Coronavirus Information & Support
For more information from the ATO about tax measures related to COVID-19, please visit their website here:
ATO Coronavirus Support Page
You can find Centrelink’s COVID-19 response page here:
Centrelink Webpage for People Affected By The Coronavirus
For health, financial and general information about COVID-19, head to Australia.gov:
Australian Government Webpage
Also, don’t forget there are many Uber, rideshare and food delivery drivers out there who are sharing your frustrations and worries. Community is a great source of support, so be sure to visit the UberPeople online forum to connect with other Australian rideshare drivers.
UberPeople Australia Online Forum
That’s all for now. I hope this information was helpful for you, and I will continue to update it with any major developments that are directly relevant to you as a rideshare or food delivery driver. Please feel free to post or share this page with anyone you think might find it valuable. Here’s the link:
DriveTax Coronavirus Benefits & Support for Uber Drivers
I wish you and all drivers out there the very best in these complicated times.
– Jess Murray, Director of DriveTax
Jess2020-07-21T13:19:01+00:00
Issa July 27, 2020 at 3:33 am	- Reply
Hi Jess, firstly, thank you for the all the information you provide.
my question relates to job keeper and turnover.
if my uber turnover starts increasing and becomes slightly higher than the 30% reduction will I lose eligibility for the job keeper payment for that month and subsequent months till September. i spoke to the ATO and they were having a bet each way… they said the job keeper would not be withdrawn as they accept uber turnover can be volatile especially in current hot spots like Melbourne and Sydney but at the same they said if my turnover increased the ATO could write to me and give me 14 days to explain why the job seeker should not be withdrawn. Do you know the how this will play out?
Jess July 27, 2020 at 4:50 am	- Reply
Hi Issa, there are no further eligibility tests up until the end of September (i.e. the early October payment), so you will get your JobKeeper payments no matter how much you earn. From the end of September onwards (i.e. the early November payment) there will be a 30% eligibility test, although we don’t have all the details yet. The part you mentioned about writing a letter and 14 days does not align with anything I have heard and there’s certainly nothing in the existing system like that. It will all be based on the 30% test or yet-to-be-announced alternative test. – Jess
Nazar Zhydenko July 22, 2020 at 12:25 am	- Reply
I am writing to you about the question- “How much can I earn while Jobkeeper payments for Uber drivers as sole traders?
Jess July 22, 2020 at 12:28 am	- Reply
Hi Nazar, you can find the answer in the article above. Here is a link to the exact section: https://www.drivetax.com.au/uber-covid-19/#JobKeeperEarn – Jess
Ehsan Simaei July 5, 2020 at 8:09 am	- Reply
Hi Jess, thanks for useful info provided in this website. I have applied for JobKeeper as a sole trader but in the identify step, I entered 1 as a business partner and for employee(Myself) entered not claiming yet . Is this correct and can you please advise for July , I will receive it in August ?
I mean I ouldnt find any place to enter 0 for employee , I got 1 employee(Myself) and 1 business participant.
Jess July 6, 2020 at 1:51 am	- Reply
Hi Ehsan, you will need to call the ATO to fix this. Any payments you receive with employee 1 and business participant 1 will be double your proper entitlement and you will have to pay it back. The ATO Coronavirus phone number is 1800 806 218. – Jess
Ehsan Simaei July 6, 2020 at 2:02 am	- Reply
Thanks Jess. What if I enter Never eligible for the employee in the claiming status ? Is that going to fix it?
Jess July 6, 2020 at 2:34 am	- Reply
Sorry Ehsan, I’m not sure. You should call the ATO and get them to fix it up for you. – Jess
Ehsan Simaei July 6, 2020 at 5:09 am
I called ATO,they said you only can expect the money come in your account in August not 3-4 business day as usual. Please advise how can I book a consultation with you as soon as possible ?
Jess July 6, 2020 at 6:26 am
Hi Ehasn, I think what they are saying is that you must wait until the July Monthly Declaration becomes available, which will be on the 1st of August, and you will get the money 3-4 business days after you submit that declaration. You can read how the declaration works above. I’m sorry we don’t have consultations, here are the links to our tax returns services or general tax advice. – Jess
Kevin June 30, 2020 at 6:40 am	- Reply
Hi Jess, I recently received an email from ATO stating:
We have reviewed the application and our records indicate the entity does not meet the entitlement requirements.
To be entitled, the entity needs to have satisfied the following:
›	an amount was included in the entity’s assessable income for the 2018-19 income year in relation to it carrying on a business, or
›	it made supplies or sales between 1 July 2018 and 31 December 2019 (this period applies for entities that are not registered nor required to be registered for GST),
›	The entity notified us of the above by 12 March 2020, for example in a lodged income tax return.
Our records indicate the entity didn’t notify us by 12 March 2020 of any assessable business income for the 2018-19 income year or of any supplies or sales made between 1 July 2018 and 31 December 2019.
What do I do? I was an Uber driver from the 8th of July 2019 so I did provide a supply/sales for the mentioned dates.
Jess July 2, 2020 at 1:19 am	- Reply
Hi Kevin, the ATO are essentially saying that they didn’t receive any BAS’s from you during that date. If that is true then they are correct that you are not eligble for JobKeeper. It that is incorrect and you did lodge a BAS prior to March 12 then you will have to call them to discuss. – Jess
Alvin June 26, 2020 at 2:38 pm	- Reply
Hi Jess, hope you’re keeping well.
A quick question regarding early access to super for the next $10K.
When we are assessing the 20% reduction in turnover, (test) do we include our JobKeeper Payment in the equation ? I’m thinking we shouldn’t because $3K is not really ‘turnover’ .
Appreciate your view on this. Thanks.
Jess June 29, 2020 at 3:18 am	- Reply
Hi Alvin, you’re correct, JobKeeper payments are not included in the turnover test. – Jess
Gary June 23, 2020 at 8:26 am	- Reply
Hi Jess. Just an easy one for you. We receive our next Jobkeeper payment in the first week of July. Does that mean it is a payment that is counted as Financial Year 2020/2021 income or 2019/2020 income? Thanks.
Jess June 23, 2020 at 11:12 pm	- Reply
Hi Gary, great question. Small businesses generally report their income on a cash basis, which means that income is recognised on the date you receive it. This means that money that hits your bank account on or before the 30th of June belongs to the 2020FY, and income that hits your bank account on or after 1 July (which will include your next JobKeeper payment) belongs to the 2021FY. – Jess
Gary June 24, 2020 at 2:55 am	- Reply
Thanks so much Jess for your reply. I was just a little confused as the next jobkeeper payment covers us for the month of June which is obviously 2019/20. What you have said makes perfect sense though.
Just wondering though, if that makes it more difficult when it comes to doing our BAS. For example, lets take the month of March. We receive our March Tax Summary from Uber. I am assuming that the Tax Summary reflects all the money that I earned for each Calendar day of March. However, because I actually didn’t receive some of the money for my work in March in my Bank Account until early April, does that mean that I need to record it in the April to June BAS quarter instead? Thanks.
Jess June 24, 2020 at 4:44 am	- Reply
Hi Gary, yes you’re right that it’s a problem. But the Uber monthly summary is the only report that shows us the breakdown we need to calculate the GST correctly in an efficient manner. The ATO does provide for the practicality of this problem where the amounts are ‘immaterial’, In other words, where there are only very small amounts of tax involved, and it’s only a timing issue, so the ATO receives all the tax due to them in the end, then they will allow us to use the monthly summary instead of having to calculate manually. – Jess
Gary June 24, 2020 at 5:06 am
Thanks so much Jess. That is a great relief to know!
Shah June 9, 2020 at 1:53 pm	- Reply
First of all thank you for the detailed and informative post. It has helped clear several queries. But I have one small thing that is bothering me.
I came to Australia as a resident in Aug 2019 and have been doing food delivery (Uber Eats) since then, along with some casual employment (casual employment ended in Feb 2020). I have not filed my tax return for the year 2019-2020 (as it wasn’t due) or any BAS. I have claimed Jobseeker as well as Jobkeeper and both have been approved. I am a little confused regarding the eligibility criteria (specifically filing tax returns and Commissioners discretion) but I am assuming that I met the eligibility criteria for Jobkeeper as a sole trader and that is why my application was approved.
Is there any possibility that ATO might, in the future, audit the Jobkeeper payment and somehow find me ineligible? If that is a possibility, I would be required to pay back the Jobkeeper payments. Furthermore, I will be reporting Jobkeeper income to Centrelink and this would mean I miss out on Jobseeker payments as well. Can you please provide some information so that my confusion can be resolved.
Jess June 10, 2020 at 12:20 am	- Reply
Hi Shah, JobKeeper works under a self-assessment system. That means that it is your responsibility to check if you were eligible or not. When you submit the application you ticked a box to say that you are eligible, and then the ATO will pay you automatically. In other words, you approve your own application and they trust you to be honest and get it correct. Of course the ATO did not have time to check eligibility for millions of people right away, which is why you got the money, but I’m sure that they will allocate a task-force to this over the next year or two and they will find the people who made a false declaration on the eligibility form and make them pay back the JobKeeper. In your case based on what you explained you would not be eligible because you were not in Australia in the 2019 financial year so you could not have lodged a tax return (there is no commissioner discretion for this). So my advice would be to contact the ATO to stop your payments and put the money aside because you will have to pay it back. – Jess
Duncan June 1, 2020 at 3:01 pm	- Reply
Hi Jess, my part time employment(cafe) was ceased on 23/3/2020 and I am currently receiving job keeper payment as a uber driver.
My cafe boss would like to employ me back start from next week. Is that possible? Should I ask for a part time or casual position?
Jess June 2, 2020 at 1:08 am	- Reply
Hi Duncan, I’mm sorry I cannot advise about your personal circumstances here. But I can confirm if you are a full-time or part-time employee then you cannot receive JobKeeper as a sole trader/Uber driver. If you start a full-time or part-time job then you must stop your sole trader JobKeeper. – Jess
Davis June 1, 2020 at 11:37 am	- Reply
Hi, Jess. Why the declare was not close once I had summited the form in June.Last time It was close once I summited.
Jess June 2, 2020 at 1:04 am	- Reply
Hi Davis, this is because you have to file the Monthly Declaration again next month. If you click on it, it will say you have already lodged and come back next month. – Jess
Anuj June 1, 2020 at 12:52 am	- Reply
Thank you for your valuable information regarding Jobkeeper, I have been doing a parcel delivery on same ABN which I was doing for rideshare which I started only 2 months ago but I am not doing rideshare at the moment and I am putting earned GST turnover from parcel delivery job only, so wanted to know , should I be only earning from rideshare job to be eligible to get paid for job keeper payment, as last financial year i was doing only rideshare or is it ok to continue to earn from parcel delivery job
Jess June 1, 2020 at 1:00 am	- Reply
Hi Anuj, it’s no problem to earn any time from any sources while you are on JobKeeper. You must declare all of your ABN income in the monthly declaration, but it will not affect your JobKeeper payment even if you earned alot of money, you will continue to receive JobKeeper no matter how much you earn. – Jess
Dumidu May 26, 2020 at 1:12 am	- Reply
Thanks for your valuable time contribution towards to create this valuable document.
However, Could you please help me find Uber Turn Over & Didi Turn Over for Job Keeper claim.
Jess May 26, 2020 at 1:37 am	- Reply
Hi Dumidu, you can learn how to calculate Turnover in the section above titled ‘Part 2 – Identification’. If you would like us to do the calculations for you, you can subscribe to our 6-Month Unlimited Email Tax Support package. – Jess
Viki May 19, 2020 at 6:22 pm	- Reply
Hi Jess. First of all thank you very much for providing wonderful help and information. I just have a little query. I am doing 5 hrs a week casual job and rest I drive rideshare for 30-35 hrs a week. After Covid-19, I stopped rideshare but still doing 5 hrs a week casual job from which I earned approximately 900$ fortnightly. Do I need to update/tell this earning to ATO if I am applying for JobKeeper?
Jess May 20, 2020 at 12:04 am	- Reply
Hi Viki, the JobKeeper application process does not take your other income into account, it is only measured on your business/ABN income. – Jess
Viki May 21, 2020 at 11:02 am	- Reply
Thank you Jess !! You are a wonderful support <3 God Bless You <3
Jess May 21, 2020 at 1:18 pm	- Reply
Thankyou Viki, keep well! – Jess
Sul May 19, 2020 at 7:59 am	- Reply
I’m an UBER X driver, but had a year break ( 2018-2019 Taxation Period ) due to my injury & then went to Melbourne in May 2019 to spend time with my family there and only just came back here in Perth last February 2020 to resume my UBER X driving again, but had been held off due to COVID 19.
Do you think I’m eligible to apply for the JobKeeper Payment
Jess May 20, 2020 at 12:02 am	- Reply
Hi Sul, I’m sorry I can’t answer personal eligibility questions here. You can find the answer to your question in the section titled ‘30% Decline in Turnover’. – Jess
Erlank May 19, 2020 at 5:19 am	- Reply
Awesome resource you provide here – thanks ever so much, you made this less harrowing than it definitely turned out to be! Since the ATO is paying JobKeeper first for April, i.e. back paid, how do we report or update JobSeeker. Currently, we are submitting what was earned in May, the JobKeeper has not paid out for May yet. Do we report the April payment to CentreLink in May or do we only report to CentreLink in May for the corresponding days as per the fortnightly schedule? The JobKeeper and Jobseeker fortnights do not correlate directly. I called CentreLink and they advised to keep submitting the earnings continuously through to end of September. I want to submit correctly so as to not have issues down the track. Appreciate your insight.
Jess May 19, 2020 at 11:59 pm	- Reply
Hi Erlank, thanks for the kind words! I’ve just updated the post to answer your question because I think may will ask the same. (Identify Form – Step 5). Step 5) When declaring your JobKeeper income to Centrelink, just look at the date your JobKeeper payment arrived in your bank, that is the relevant date. It doesn’t matter that the money relates to previous JobKeeper fortnights, Centrelink only looks at the date you actually received the money. – Jess
Maximo May 18, 2020 at 7:50 am	- Reply
Hi Jess, Which are the JobKeeper payments dates? For what I see on the ATO page the third payment should have been paid on the 10 of May. Any place where I can check?. Many thanks
Jess May 18, 2020 at 8:14 am	- Reply
Hi Maximo, you should receive your payment 3 business days after submitting your Identify form (available from 4th May) or Monthly Declaration (first week of every month from June through to October). See above under Step 2 and Step 3 for details. – Jess
Nelson May 11, 2020 at 11:10 pm	- Reply
Hi Jess, I’ve already claimed my JobKeeper for the month of April; as I claimed both fortnights for $3K total, will I have to report my income to Centrelink as $1.5K or $3K?
Jess May 12, 2020 at 12:04 am	- Reply
Hi Nelson, I’m not a Centrelink expert so please check with them, but I *think* you have to report to them on a cash basis, which means it goes by the date you received the money in your bank account, regardless of what period that money is related to. So if you received $3k in your bank on a certain date, that’s the amount and date you will report to Centrelink. But again, please confirm with them before you go ahead! – Jess
Eric May 18, 2020 at 1:20 am	- Reply
A quick note to thank you very much indeed for all your hard work and assistance you have given in the recent times with the Jobkeeper and Covid 19 scenario. Your blog and continual updates and advice on the situation and detailed easy to follow instructions has been extremely helpful. We really appreciate it all and cannot thank you enough! You are a star.
Jess May 18, 2020 at 1:46 am	- Reply
Thankyou so much Eric, I’m glad it’s been helpful! – Jess
Manu May 11, 2020 at 7:54 am	- Reply
Does the citizenship and visa eligibility still apply for job keeper for sole traders (Uber drivers) ? The information on the ATO website did not mention visa and citizenship eligibility in the section for sole traders. I meet all other requirements except those. Thanks for your great work!!
Jess May 11, 2020 at 9:08 am	- Reply
Hi Manu, I’m afraid so. You can find the confirmation on this ATO page under the heading ‘Eligible Business Participant’. https://www.ato.gov.au/general/jobkeeper-payment/sole-traders-and-other-entities/. I’m sorry it’s not better news. – Jess
JACK May 11, 2020 at 2:45 am	- Reply
Hi jess thanks for your updates in this blog.I would like to know is there any changes in jobkeeper payment or are they going to stop? I have done whole procedure on 4th of may including declared april month and may month projected turnover but so far i haven’t received the payment. They were supposed to pay first week of may. Today i read in the news PM suggest $130 billion jobkeeper payment may change. Thanks
Jess May 11, 2020 at 4:11 am	- Reply
Hi Jack, the government have not announced anything about stopping JobKeeper. They said there is a review date in June, but that is all we know. JobKeeper payments should arrive 3-4 business days after you submit your ‘Identify’ form, so if it hasn’t arrived after that time you will need to call the ATO on 1800 806 218. – Jess
Jason May 9, 2020 at 1:04 am	- Reply
Hi jess, appreciate all the updates and info!..in regards to job keeper, I have lodged a BAS statement prior to March 12 but have not yet lodged a 2019 tax return…Is the criteria that both a BAS and latest tax return Must have been lodged or one or the other should suffice?( a bit confusing from the info) Thanks
Jess May 10, 2020 at 3:38 pm	- Reply
Hi Jason, you only have to have lodged one or the other, not both. – Jess
Alvin May 8, 2020 at 3:41 am	- Reply
Can I triple check with you that as a Uber Driver (sole trader), once we are successful with getting JobKeeper, we are able to driver and earn income WITHOUT affecting our entitlement to $1,500 per fortnight JobKeeper moving forward.
That is, the 30% reduction in turnover in comparison to last year’s corresponding period is NO longer relevant as to whether we continue to receive JobKeeper.
Therefore, the JobKeeper monthly reporting obligation, even if our income exceed 70% of last year’s period, we will continue to get $1,500.
Appreciate your feedback Jess.
Jess May 8, 2020 at 5:25 am	- Reply
Hi Alvin, you’ll find this above in the section titled ‘Can I (Or Do I Have To) Keep Driving?’ – Jess
Gary Finch May 6, 2020 at 12:17 am	- Reply
Hi Jess. Do you know if it is possible that the government may force Rideshare Drivers to get back to work sometime before the Jobkeeper payments cease in September? I know of quite a few drivers who are not comfortable about going back at the moment, due to general concerns about COVID, or underlying health conditions. So, will it be frowned upon by the ATO, if someone continues to put “0” income for the Turnover question over the next 6 months. Thanks again Jess for all your hard work.
Jess May 6, 2020 at 12:31 am	- Reply
Hi Gary, no I’m quite sure the government would never force anyone to work, and specifically, there is nothing in the JobKeeper legislation that requires this. Your business must be ‘active’, but that includes being dormant or ‘in hibernation’ due to the health and safety concerns of coronavirus, that is 100% understandable acceptable. Your income or working hours are a not factor in your eligibility. The only thing I recommend you do is be sure to keep your ABN and GST registration active and just lodge Nil BAS’s for the quarters where you don’t drive. This will show the ATO that you intend to return to driving when safe to do so. – Jess
Gary Finch May 6, 2020 at 2:18 am	- Reply
Thanks so much again Jess👍
Jess May 6, 2020 at 12:52 am	- Reply
This was a great question Gary, I’m sure others will be wondering the same, so I’ve updated the post above to include it. (Under the ‘How To Apply’ Instructions). Thankyou! – Jess
Tim May 5, 2020 at 11:24 pm	- Reply
Hi. Was just wondering if anyone has actually received a payment yet? Completed steps on Monday and wonder when the ATO might pay (apart from “first week of May” which is almost over).
Jess May 5, 2020 at 11:33 pm	- Reply
Hi Tim, no word yet, I did hear that it was supposed to be later this week. The ATO are figuring this all out very quickly and on the fly, so I imagine they don’t know exactly themselves… – Jess
Ivan May 8, 2020 at 12:52 am	- Reply
Hi Tim / Jess, just following up this post from a couple of days ago. I can update that my fist JK payment hit my account overnight and I’m probably not alone on this one. Cheers!
Jess May 8, 2020 at 1:59 am	- Reply
Very good news!! I’m hearing they’re starting to flow through, and I’m sure not a moment too soon! Keep well, – Jess
Alvin May 4, 2020 at 7:41 pm	- Reply
Understand Centrelink is not really your realm, but if you can comment (understanding it’s not an advice from you) that would be awesome. Just a little confused with the partner’s income threshold for JobSeeker.
There’s reference to $994 per FN where JobSeeker payment will start to decrease when a Partner’s income exceeds $994.
Then there is reference to $3,067 per fortnight or $79,762 per year Partner’s income threshold, which I’m un-sure if this number now replaces the $994.
If my Partner’s FN income is say $2000, then with respect to the $3,096 threshold, there should NOT be any decrease in Jobseeker payment.
Thank you again Jess.
Jess May 4, 2020 at 11:16 pm	- Reply
Hi Alvin, please check this with Centrelink, but I think there is a lower threshold and an upper threshold. If your partner is below the lower threshold ($994) you receive the maximum JobSeeker. For every one dollar that your partner is over $994 your JobSeeker starts to decrease by 25 cents. And if your partner reaches $3,067 then your JobSeeker has decreased to $0. However you should still apply even if you’ll only get a small amount because if you’re eligible for even $1 of JobSeeker then you will get the Coronavirus Supplement of $550/fn, plus rent assistance if you’re eligible, plus the one-off $750. I hope that explains it. – Jess
Alvin May 5, 2020 at 2:45 am	- Reply
You’re a gem, thanks Jess.
Ivan May 4, 2020 at 12:30 pm	- Reply
Hi Jess, quick thanks for keeping us all updated on this JobKeeper process.
The continually updated info here has been a real godsend on top of the value I’ve already received from your “Understanding Uber Taxes” course I bought a couple of weeks back.
As others have mentioned here, keep up the fabulous work. It’s VERY much appreciated!
Cheers and thanks again – Ivan
Jess May 4, 2020 at 11:17 pm	- Reply
Thankyou so much Ivan, and I’m glad you found the course valuable too. I really appreciate the kind words! – Jess
Tim May 4, 2020 at 6:16 am	- Reply
Hi Jess. Thank you for providing this valuable information. You literally took pages and pages of confusing ATO information and converted it into simple steps for self employed Job Keepers applicants. I can’t thank you enough.
Jess May 4, 2020 at 6:32 am	- Reply
Thankyou Tim!! – Jess
Bob May 4, 2020 at 5:13 am	- Reply
I wanted to thank you for providing this information to the public. This has saved me $250, as a tax agent was charging me $250 to complete the Jobkeeper application. When it took a few minutes to complete the whole application.
I will definitely be purchasing your course.
Jess May 4, 2020 at 5:16 am	- Reply
Hi Bob, it’s frustrating to hear that, I’m glad we dodged that for you! Thanks for the great feedback =) I look forward to seeing you on the course! Keep well. – Jess
Hontone May 4, 2020 at 3:17 am	- Reply
Just want to drop you a line. Thanks for the blog post. Appreciate your work here.
Jess May 4, 2020 at 3:45 am	- Reply
Thankyou Hontone! – Jess
Gaby May 4, 2020 at 1:55 am	- Reply
Hi Jess, we’ve done step 1 and enrolled for the JobKeeper payment as we meet criteria. Find steps 2 and 3 not that easy to follow and looks like you cannot fix mistakes once submitted. Can you please let me know what’s your fee to assist with steps 2 and 3? (email provided)
Jess May 4, 2020 at 3:58 am	- Reply
Hi Gaby, we can assist with the submission, our fee is $33, but I would first need you to calculate your Turnover and Projected Turnover as per the instructions above. Alternatively, you can subscribe to our 6 month Unlimited Email Tax Support and as part of that I can walk you through the calculations. But honestly, these totals don’t matter so much and don’t affect your JobKeeper Payment, so if instead you just base all of your calculations on bank deposits that will be much easier to calculate and the ATO will understand. – Jess
Gaby May 7, 2020 at 5:17 am	- Reply
Hi Jess, just to let you know we were able to complete step 2 thanks to your easy to follow instructions in your blog! Thanks again for all that you’re doing for so many. Your blog has been most helpful and has made things so much clearer for us.
Jess May 7, 2020 at 5:24 am	- Reply
You’re very welcome Gaby! Stay well!
Stuart Ross June 9, 2020 at 4:32 am	- Reply
Hi Jess, as an Uber driver I recently applied for and received Jobkeeper based on the May Weekly statements in my Uber account. On Uber publishing the monthly tax summary my earnings for that month are more than the positive amounts for that month in my Weekly statements. My question is why are the turnover totals different between the Weekly statements for a month and the Tax Summary for that month?
Jess June 9, 2020 at 4:40 am	- Reply
Hi Stuart, I see you’ve posted this question already and I’ve already answered, but I think it’s hidden in a thread somewhere. Allow me to copy and paste my response for you here. There are two possible reasons. The first could be timing, the monthly statement covers 31 days and four weekly statements would be 28 days, so if you used the weekly statements and didn’t pick up the extra days at the beginning and end of the month from the daily CSV’s then your figures would be under. The second possible reasons is because there seem to be two different types of Uber weekly reports. One shows the additional amounts (split fare fees, tolls, city fees, airport fees, booking fees) which are included on the monthly statements and included in your GST turnover and one doesn’t. So if you’re looking at the weekly reports without those amounts then your weekly figures will seem lower. Note that this only really matters for JobKeeper Step 1 Identify Form which is the 30% turnover test, it doesn’t matter for the Step 3 Monthly Declaration for the reasons I discussed in the blog post above. – Jess
Michael May 3, 2020 at 2:41 am	- Reply
Hi the enrolment form is out, could you tell us where to upload to the form thanks
Jess May 3, 2020 at 4:56 am	- Reply
Hi Michael, thanks for the heads up! Please be patient, I will update as soon as I’ve been able to review and confirm the whole process. – Jess
Peter May 1, 2020 at 3:36 am	- Reply
I am a sole trading running my home tutoring business which has ceased trading since Mar due to lockdown restrictions. I started the business in Jul-19 and haven’t filed my taxes before this, since I wasn’t earning any income before FY19-20.
Will I be eligible for Jobkeeper, as I satisfy the alternative tests?
Jess May 1, 2020 at 4:15 am	- Reply
Hi Peter, I’m sorry I cannot give personal eligibility advice here. However you will find all the eligibility requirements above. It sounds like the BAS + Tax section is the one that’s relevant to you. – Jess
john April 29, 2020 at 5:11 am	- Reply
Hi jess, i drive a taxi, and with Jobkeeper if i stopped driving, because of the coronavirus, how do i report for the turnover if i’m not earning any income? and do i have to be still registered for gst?
Jess April 29, 2020 at 11:35 am	- Reply
Hi John, if you did not drive in a month then your turnover is $0, that is what you would report to the ATO. If you have stopped driving permanently you should deregister for GST, but if you have only stopped temporarily then it’s easiest so stay registered. If you do not drive for a whole quarter you MUST still lodge a BAS, but a NIl BAS is very easy to lodge yourself. You can learn more here: https://www.drivetax.com.au/uber-bas/ – Jess
john May 4, 2020 at 4:56 am	- Reply
But if i stopped driving a taxi altogether and i deregistered my GST, can i claim Jobkeeper payments?
Jess May 4, 2020 at 5:24 am	- Reply
Hi John, the business must still exist, not completely closed down. It is okay if you are not driving right now for safety reasons, but the business must still be ‘alive but in hibernation’, not completely shut down. The ATO have not given us any information about cancelling the GST, so I recommend calling them. My guess is that cancelling the GST is probably okay (although I would not recommend it for anyone else, just lodge Nil BAS’s instead), but I am sure if your ABN is cancelled then there is no business that exists in order to claim JobKeeper so you would not be eligible. I’m sorry I don’t have a more certain answer but they haven’t published any guidance on this. Please call the ATO for further clarification. – Jess
Simon May 3, 2020 at 4:48 am	- Reply
They’ve opened up the ability to identify employees and register April’s information early
Jess May 3, 2020 at 4:55 am	- Reply
Hi Simon, thanks for the heads up! Please be patient, I will update as soon as I’ve been able to review and confirm the whole process. – Jess
Steve April 28, 2020 at 2:30 am	- Reply
Hi I was rejected for job keeper payment, I was full time uber driver. Is it because I have not paid my 2019 income tax ? Or might be other reason ?
Jess April 28, 2020 at 4:13 am	- Reply
Hi Steve, I can’t provide personal advice here, but you can find all of the eligibility criteria above in the section ‘Am I Eligible For JobKeeper’ so you can see which one applies to you. – Jess
Duncan April 26, 2020 at 11:57 am	- Reply
Thank you for answering my question before.
I had a question about the phase ‘Actively engage into business’. As many of us, as a uber driver , stopped driving since February because of the health concern and make $0 income till now.
Wondering how to satisfy this requirement?
And do we have to keep driving?
And for myself, I will definitely not driving until government lift up all the current restrictions as the elderly at home so valunable.
Hope this pandemic will ease up soon.
Jess April 27, 2020 at 3:33 am	- Reply
Hi Duncan, the ‘actively engaged’ requirement does not apply where the business has ceased trading altogether due to coronavirus, and this applies to all Uber drivers who stopped driving for health and safety reasons. All the best. – Jess
Kevin April 25, 2020 at 3:50 pm	- Reply
I am a part time uber driver, I have a full-time job with super paid by employer. Due to the virus, I can’t drive uber anymore. Can I apply the early release of superannuation?
Jess April 27, 2020 at 3:36 am	- Reply
Hi Kevin, I can’t advise on personal eligibility here. You can find all the information in the link towards the end of the blog post titled ‘Early Release of Super’ – Jess
Alvin April 24, 2020 at 11:32 pm	- Reply
Firstly a massive thank you for the solid information above ! .. This should be all Uber Drivers’ one-stop shop for information AND doing their BAS !
1) I’m a registered sole-trader with an ABN (4 years now and purely for Uber Driving). According to the ATO’s website ‘”The entity, not the eligible business participant, receives the JobKeeper payment. The exception is a sole trader, who is both the business entity and an eligible business participant, and so receives the JobKeeper payment themselves.” – So does this mean Uber Drivers, if successful, receives the $1,500 directly from the ATO, and not via Uber ?
2) I have been driving for a number of years and very regularly the last few months and I am sure I can substantiate 30% reduction in April compared to PCP in 2019. This is because I have NOT driven since mid March as I was very worried getting infected (almost like playing Russian Roulette), and was all ill at one point where the Doctor (incl. NSW Health) suggested I stop driving. In essence, I went into total Hibernation since mid March .. I read somewhere that Uber Drivers need to be actively engaged in the business for the fortnight we are claiming .. Though my Uber Driver account is still active and valid, I have not driven because of this pandemic and to follow the government’s request to stay in-doors … Is this “actively engaged in the business for the fortnight we are claiming” an issue for receiving JobKeeper ?
Jess April 25, 2020 at 2:08 am	- Reply
Hi Alvin, Uber drivers are sole traders, which means Uber is not your employer, they are just a business that you transact with. So they will not manage your JobKeeper, you must do that yourself directly with the ATO, and the ATO will pay JobKeeper directly to you. The ‘actively engaged’ requirement does not apply where the business has ceased trading altogether due to coronavirus, and this applies to all Uber drivers who stopped driving for health and safety reasons. – Jess
A April 25, 2020 at 2:14 am	- Reply
You’re a gem thank you Jess, keep safe. Alvin.
Duncan April 24, 2020 at 2:23 pm	- Reply
Uber + employment question, I am a uber drive for 3 yrs and I had lodge all of the BAS and tax return. I started a full time job as barista on 15/2/2020 and stop uber because of the health concern
I was then stood down by my cafe on 23/3/2020 due to the lockdown.
I am confused when you said full time employee can not apply job keeper payment.
Jess April 25, 2020 at 2:10 am	- Reply
Hi Duncan, if you are ‘stood down’ that means you are still employed but you are not working. That means since you are still technically employed you must get JobKeeper through your employer and you cannot get it as a sole trader for your Uber income. Alternatively, if you are ‘fired’ that means you are no longer employed, so you could claim JobKeeper for your sole trader income. – Jess
shahram April 26, 2020 at 1:12 pm	- Reply
Just wanted to thank you for your very helpful information , you’ve been a great help to clarify some vague issues for uber drivers.
Jess April 27, 2020 at 3:32 am	- Reply
Thankyou very much Shahram! – Jess
Alex April 24, 2020 at 1:53 am	- Reply
Hi Jess, thanks a lot for your updated info in regards to discretion for 12 March cut off. The online enrolment form for Jobkeeper still not updated to reflex this discretion. The form still says only people lodged on or before 12 March can enrol. Do you think it’s ok to click ‘Yes’ to enrol even if I haven’t done my 18-19 ITR yet? I am included in a tax agent’s list so my due date is 15 May. Thanks a lot for your answer in advance!!
Jess April 24, 2020 at 2:05 am	- Reply
Hi Alex, I think the ATO is still playing catch up on this, but I agree that if you are definitely eligible under those rules then you should click yes. – Jess
Hashmat April 23, 2020 at 4:10 am	- Reply
Hi Jess thanks for great work. My question is as Uber driver do we need to fill nomination form as well at ATO.
Jess April 23, 2020 at 5:51 am	- Reply
Hi Hashmat, I think you mean the employee nomination form? No, you are not an employee yourself and you do not employ anyone else. So you have zero employees and therefore no employee nomination form is required. – Jess
Jack April 24, 2020 at 2:00 am	- Reply
I accidentally put March in the form of claiming the job keeper, but my income did not fall 30% last year , should I call ATO to correct that to April ? Please advice. Thx
Jess April 24, 2020 at 2:04 am	- Reply
Hi Jack, yes we’ve been told you should call the ATO’s coronavirus hotline to change it on 1800 806 218. – Jess
Rez April 23, 2020 at 2:25 am	- Reply
Thanks Jess, helps a lot,I’ve applied and waiting, just a quick one, my turnover on Mar and Apr is 30% less than last year but I haven’t work a penny on May last year as I was overseas, how does the 30% work for upcoming May, if I get approved and don’t work on May then will I still get paid?!
I’ve applied for jobseeker as well and waiting for respond which one I am eligible for, jobkeeper is manageable through 30% rule but curious to know does it affect the jobseeker outcome while I’m waiting for reply from Centerlink?or if get approved for jobseeker, can i work after?any calculation to notify you how much you can work without regular payment being affected?
Jess April 23, 2020 at 2:55 am	- Reply
Hi Rez, my understanding is that as long as you pass the 30% test for March or April you will be eligible for the rest of the JobKeeper period, so May will not matter. You can find the answer to your question regarding JobSeeker in the first part of the blog post, and regarding continuing to work under the heading ‘JobKepeer – How Does It Work’. – Jess
Tim April 20, 2020 at 5:27 pm	- Reply
Hi Jess. Thank you for all your amazing work. Regarding the reduction in turnover. If we choose April as the comparison period where we’re “likely to experience a reduction in turnover” – will that change when the first JobKeeper payment is received, or will it still be paid in the first week of May based on the predicted turnover?
Jess April 20, 2020 at 10:50 pm	- Reply
Hi Tim, you can find this in the step by step instructions above. You will receive the same amount of JobKeeper on the same dates either way. The ATO just wanted to give multiple options to qualify. – Jess
Ali April 20, 2020 at 12:44 pm	- Reply
Hi Jess, thanks for this great blog, appreciate it.
Q) How much can Uber drivers earn per/week before JobKeeper payment gets effected?
Or do they compare your income to the previous year and pay you full amount as long as you pass the 30% rule.
Jess April 20, 2020 at 2:07 pm	- Reply
Hi Ali, you can keep working while on JobKeeper, you just need to stay under the 30% rule. – Jess
Tim April 20, 2020 at 5:31 pm	- Reply
Am I correct, that once you’re deemed eligible, it’s for the 6 months and a change in turnover won’t make you ineligible?
Reading this on ATO JobKeeper guide for Sole Traders…
You must also provide information as to your current and projected GST turnover. ***This is not a retest of your eligibility, but rather an indication of how your business is progressing under the JobKeeper Payment scheme.***
Jess April 20, 2020 at 10:52 pm	- Reply
Hi Tim, this has been a question in my mind too, and I’m not 100% sure yet. I’m hoping this will become clearer once we do the first monthly report on the 4th of May. I’ll keep you posted! – Jess
Amar April 13, 2020 at 5:31 pm	- Reply
Hi Jess, I drive taxi, I’m stuck overseas coz of lockdown . Last tax return- i paid around 17K tax to ATO. My income was around 45K. Am i eligible for $1500 fortnightly payment from ATO.
Jess April 13, 2020 at 11:55 pm	- Reply
Hi Amar, you can find all of the eligibility criteria above. I’m sorry I can’t answer everyone’s individual eligibility questions here. – Jess
Chris April 14, 2020 at 6:00 am	- Reply
Jobkeeper is not available for those who are also “permanent employees”. But what about if you do rideshare and are also receiving income as a sole Director/owner of your separate Pty Ltd company?
Jess April 14, 2020 at 5:16 pm	- Reply
Hi Chris, I’m sorry I can’t provide personalised advice here. I would recommend talking to your company accountant who understands your particular structure and circumstances. – Jess
alex April 20, 2020 at 12:13 am
Hi Jess, I haven’t lodged a 18-19 tax return yet and am not required to do BAS as not GST registered. However I lodged PAYG installments each quarter in the current financial year. Do you think PAYG installments can be considered as a business activity report?
Jess April 20, 2020 at 1:04 am
Hi Alex, that’s good question. No unfortunately not, the legislation is quite specific in saying it has to be a declaration of a taxable supply, which only relates to the GST section of a BAS. – Jess
Hasan April 18, 2020 at 9:58 am	- Reply
Hello Jess, what about people who are driving uber full-time and have casual job not permanent full-time or part-time job?
Jess April 18, 2020 at 3:05 pm	- Reply
Hi Hasan, you’ll find this answered above in the section ‘Employment + Uber’ – Jess
George April 13, 2020 at 1:54 am	- Reply
Hello Jess, started UberEats Delivery Partner driving from Oct 2018 to July 2019 and lodged my tax return for the financial year 2018-19, Registered for GST and started driving DIDI Ride-share Partner from Nov 2019 working full time until mid Mar 2020, temporarily stopped working due to a high risk and continuing pandemic. I only lodged my BAS for Dec 2019 on Apr 2020, also lodged my BAS for Mar 2020 as well. Am I eligible for Jobkeeper or better of applying for Jobseeker ? Highly appreciate all the information provided. Thanks in advance!
Jess April 13, 2020 at 2:41 am	- Reply
Hi George, the Business Start Date section above answers your question. Lodging a tax return for 2019 before the 12th of March 2020 means the criteria have been met. – Jess
Simon April 11, 2020 at 9:55 am	- Reply
Thanks for the great article. I’m still receiving my normal (non permanent) casual income from an employer. But will satisfy that my sole trader income from Doing Uber eats has dropped 30%. So if I read your article correctly, I should still be eligible for jobkeeper because I’m a casual – not permanent, is that right?
As you know you don’t need an ABN for Uber eats – but I got one in feb-20 anyway when I signed up for menulog, phew! I’ve been doing Uber eats for years – so had sole trader income on last years tax return so should be okay – even though I only got my abn in feb-20, right?
Jess April 11, 2020 at 11:33 pm	- Reply
Hi Simon, yes it seems casuals are not excluded from JobKeeper. The rest of your answer can be found in the Business Start Date section. Please note that you DO need an ABN for UberEats, every business in Australia must have an Australian Business Number! More on that here: https://www.drivetax.com.au/uber-abn/ – Jess
Simon April 14, 2020 at 11:17 pm	- Reply
Wow I had no idea….thanks for letting me know. Do you know if I’ll be penalized in any way for only getting an ABN in Feb – after doing uber eats for a number of years without an ABN. Do you think this might affect jobkeeper eligibility as well?
Jess April 15, 2020 at 12:01 am	- Reply
Hi Simon, the deadline for getting an ABN is in March so you’re okay there. However the requirement is to have declared business in your 2019 tax return, and I’m not sure how you could have done this without an ABN? You may like to check that out. In my experience you wouldn’t be penalised by the ATO for the ABN itself, they’ll be happy to see you’ve sorted it out now. – Jess
Simon Grant April 15, 2020 at 12:21 am
Oh dear I’m in a bit of a pickle aren’t I! I’ve gone back and looked at my 18/19 lodgement and I’ve mistakenly put my uber income and deductions as personal other income and deductions – not business income – which is why alarm bells didn’t ring about not having an ABN. I’ve now amended my lodgement with the ATO to accurately reflect my net business income but now I really have no idea whether I’ll be eligible for jobkeeper! Sounds like it could go either way for me….
Jess April 15, 2020 at 3:24 am
Hi Simon, yes unfortunately we don’t know yet what that ‘Commissioner’s discretion’ is actually going to mean, so all you can do is wait and see when applications open. In the meantime, do put in your intention to claim for JobSeeker if you haven’t already so that they can backpay you if JobKeeper doesn’t work out. – Jess
Donna Marie Ferris April 11, 2020 at 8:22 am	- Reply
Your advice has been greatly appreciated, keep up the fantastic work.
Mohsen & Donna
Jess April 11, 2020 at 11:31 pm	- Reply
Thankyou Mohsen & Donna, keep well both of you! – Jess
Andi April 11, 2020 at 6:16 am	- Reply
Hi Jess, started Uber Partner driving in July 2019 and has been working full time until Feb 2020, temporarily stop working due to a high risk job to continue driving due to pandemic. I registered for annual GST so will not be reflected to annual BAS until FY2020 return. I have currently no PAYG income. Am I eligible for Jobkeeper or better of applying for Jobseeker ? Many thanks.
Jess April 11, 2020 at 11:37 pm	- Reply
Hi Andi, rideshare drivers are required to lodge quarterly, annual registration is actually not allowed due to special rules for tax drivers. It seems you slipped through the cracks with your annual lodgment. As per the ‘Business Start Date’ section above, that will unfortunately mean that if you haven’t declared any income in a BAS or tax return to the ATO by March 12 then you are not eligible for JobKeeper. I’m sorry for the bad news. – Jess
Saeed April 10, 2020 at 7:18 am	- Reply
Thanks a million Jess! You helped us a lot by writing this topic.
Jess April 10, 2020 at 7:23 am	- Reply
Thankyou Saeed, I’m glad it helps!
Ran April 9, 2020 at 9:44 am	- Reply
HEY JESS.! Just here to SHOUT OUT FOR YOU.! U rock.! this is the most informative page EVER for any thing to do with Jobkeeper or Jobseeker payments.! Ur efforts are highly appreciated – PL KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.! 👏👏👏👏
Jess April 9, 2020 at 12:09 pm	- Reply
Thankyou so much for the kind works Ran! Very much appreciated =) – Jess
Grant April 7, 2020 at 5:04 am	- Reply
My problem is that I have a Family Trust. My wife runs her small business (closed by government order) under the Trust and I get my Uber payment through the Trust.
Only one of us can get Job Keeper the other has to apply for Job Seeker. But which way is best to go for us?
We don’t want to give up our ABN or GST registration. Particularly my wife as her business employs staff so can get a subsidy after completing her BAS.
She has a lot more overheads than I. Shop rent etc.
I’m the Trustee but then I could apply for Job Seeker and continue to do some hours to maintain my GST registration?
Jess April 7, 2020 at 6:41 am	- Reply
Hi Grant, that’s a complex situation, certainly not one that can be advised on in a blog post. I would recommend chatting to your accountant who would better understand the ins and outs of your business structure. – Jess
Joji April 5, 2020 at 11:20 pm	- Reply
Hi Jess, Thank you for clarifying.
Amar April 5, 2020 at 9:33 pm	- Reply
Hi Jess, I did ubereats in Mar19 Apr19 & May19 part-time and made around $200 each month while I had full-time job. I have reported these income in 2019 tax return. My car was written off towards the end of May19 due to accident since then I haven’t done ubereats. I have a full-time job at the moment and is not impacted by covid-19. My ubereats account is still active. Would I be eligible for Jobkeeper Payment? I have a PR visa.
Jess April 5, 2020 at 11:37 pm	- Reply
Hi Amar, I’m sorry I can’t answer questions about individual eligibility here. All of the information we have right now can be found above, so I hope you can find the parts that relate to you. – Jess
Lynne April 5, 2020 at 3:03 am	- Reply
Thank you Jess, so very informative.
Jess April 5, 2020 at 3:08 am	- Reply
Brendan April 4, 2020 at 9:55 am	- Reply
my question is – eligibility critera for jobkeeper with a business that has seen growth YOY.
as in, Q2 2019 was very slow, such that Q2 2020 isn’t any worse (potentially even better), but there has been a 40% drop from Q1 2020 (and preceding 2 quarters)
if we have to be 30% worse off than the exact same month or quarter of 2019, that’s a pretty unfair requirement for likely tens of thousands of businesses that have been impacted but not 90% impacted.
Jess April 5, 2020 at 2:34 am	- Reply
Hi Brendan, I understand your dilemma. The government are still figuring out the details of how the 30% test will work, so stay tuned for more information after Wednesday the 8th when they meet to discuss. – Jess
Shaun April 3, 2020 at 2:41 am	- Reply
Hi, i am wondering how dose this apply to drivers who are doing Uber Eats, Deliveroo,
Jess April 3, 2020 at 2:58 am	- Reply
Hi Shaun, it is exactly the same for rideshare and food delivery, so everything in the article applies to you as a food delivery driver/rider as well. – Jess
Lou April 3, 2020 at 5:20 am	- Reply
It Is not! First of all 90% of people doing it are not Permanent Residents and by default ut does not apply to them. Not even 457 Visas are eligible
Jess April 3, 2020 at 5:43 am	- Reply
Hi Lou, yes I’m sorry to report that at this point in time the government has not expanded support to visa holders, as mentioned in the Am I Eligible section above. I know this affects a huge number of Uber drivers, and personally I am worried so many people will not receive support. I very much hope the government will change this soon. If they do decide expand eligibility requirements I will update this post right away. All the best, – Jess
Fan April 3, 2020 at 2:21 am	- Reply
I think people here including Jess had poor logic grades.
Treasurer Frydenberg said sole traders, and casuals (who have been with their employers for 12 months or more) are also eligible.
Who is an employer of Uber driver? Nobody. “Uber Australia —Uber driver” is not an employee or deemed worker relationship, so no we are not eligible.
Jess April 3, 2020 at 2:57 am	- Reply
Hi Fan, you answered your own question. In addition to full time, part time and casual employees over 12 months, also “sole traders are eligible”. That is exactly what an Uber driver is, someone who runs a business under their personal ABN. And as you pointed out Treasurer Frydenberg says sole traders are eligible. This exact scenario is confirmed in the Australian Treasury Fact Sheet in the example for a self-employed person: https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-04/Fact_sheet_supporting_businesses.pdf – Jess
Fan April 3, 2020 at 5:18 am	- Reply
Did I? So who am I an employee to in your opinion? While driving an Uber??
Regardless on which basis I’m working.
The answer is myself!!
And it is not FOR SOLE TRADERS BUT FOR SOLE TRADERS BASED EMPLOYEES! As per Frydenbergs statement and Fairtrading confirmation.
Thats why we wont get anything.
Jess April 3, 2020 at 5:31 am	- Reply
Hi Fan, the JobKeeper Payment is for employees of sole traders AND for the sole traders themselves. For further confirmation please refer to this page from Business.gov.au titled JobKeeper Payments for Sole Traders. Under the heading Payment Process you will see it says “Eligible sole traders will be paid $1,500 per fortnight per eligible employee (which may include the individual themselves if they are self-employed)”. As further confirmation, under the heading How To Apply, the article says “businesses without employees will need to provide an ABN for their business, nominate an individual to receive the payment and provide that individual’s Tax File Number and provide a declaration as to recent business activity.” Obviously if a business has no employees it must be the sole-trader/owner doing the work, and this says they will receive payment. – Jess
TOM April 3, 2020 at 2:07 am	- Reply
NOT ELIGIBLE FOR UBER!!!! IT IS FOR EMPLOYED SOLE-TRADERS BY AN EMPLOYER DIFFERENT ENTITY!!!!
Jess April 3, 2020 at 2:56 am	- Reply
Hi Tom, that’s not correct sole-traders do not have to be PAYG employees of their business to be eligible, they can just be sole traders outright. This is confirmed in the Australian Treasury Fact Sheet in the example for a self-employed person: https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-04/Fact_sheet_supporting_businesses.pdf – Jess
Tom April 3, 2020 at 5:13 am	- Reply
Nobody said they need to be PAYG thats true. But they need to be demed workers for particular employers and in Uber case they are simply not read recent Fair trading statement.
So they fall into centerlink
Jess April 3, 2020 at 5:32 am	- Reply
Hi Tom, as well as employees, sole traders themselves ARE ALSO eligible for JobKeeper too. For further confirmation please refer to this page from Business.gov.au titled JobKeeper Payments for Sole Traders. Under the heading Payment Process you will see it says “Eligible sole traders will be paid $1,500 per fortnight per eligible employee (which may include the individual themselves if they are self-employed)”. Being self-employed means they are not an employee in the traditional sense, instead they are the recipients of the business income and responsible for its debts and expenses. Accordingly, this definition still covers them. As further confirmation, under the heading How To Apply, the article says “businesses without employees will need to provide an ABN for their business, nominate an individual to receive the payment and provide that individual’s Tax File Number and provide a declaration as to recent business activity.” Obviously if a business has no employees it must be the sole-trader/owner doing the work, and this says they will receive payment. – Jess
Elena April 20, 2020 at 12:43 am	- Reply
Thanks very much for the job you are doing!
It’s very important for many people at the confused time
Jess April 20, 2020 at 1:04 am	- Reply
Thankyou Elena! – Jess
Gary Finch April 2, 2020 at 10:55 pm	- Reply
Hi Jess. Do you have any idea how the ATO will ask us to prove our income. Is it likely to be assessed by Bank Deposits for eg. March 2019 and March 2020, or will we likely need to provide our Rideshare Paysheets for those periods.
Just asking, because Bank Deposits don’t necessarily reflect how much work I received in a calendar month. Work that I did at the end of March 2019 was not paid into my Bank Account until the beginning of April. This places me under the 30% decrease in income when comparing March 2019 and March 2020. Thanks Jess.
Jess April 2, 2020 at 11:08 pm	- Reply
Hi Gary, We don’t have any details yet on exactly how the 30% test will work. My guess is that it will be based on the G1 figure reported on your BAS because that would be easiest for the ATO from an administrative perspective, but that’s a guess. Please stay tuned for an update to this blog post late next week after Parliament meets on Wednesday to finalise the details. – Jess
Jon April 2, 2020 at 12:02 pm	- Reply
Thanks Jess, Your info is excellent. I think your mission is being achieved. Cheers Jon
Jess April 2, 2020 at 10:39 pm	- Reply
Thanks for the kind words Jon =) – Jess
Stuart Ross June 7, 2020 at 5:00 pm	- Reply
Hi Jess, Utilizing my Uber account for Jobkeeper turnover purposes, why is it when calculating all the positive amounts in my weekly statements for May less than the amount earned shown on my Monthly Uber tax Summary for May?
(I had utilised the Uber weekly statements to estimate my earnings in regards to eligibility for Jobkeeper)
Jess June 8, 2020 at 12:29 am	- Reply
Hi Stuart, two reasons. The first could be timing, the monthly statement covers 31 days and four weekly statements would be 28 days, so if you used the weekly statements and didn’t pick up the extra days at the beginning and end of the month from the daily CSV’s then your figures would be under. The second possible reasons is because there seem to be two different types of weekly reports and one shows the additional amounts (split fare fees, tolls, city fees, airport fees, booking fees) which are included on the monthly statements and inluded in your GST turnover and one doesn’t. Note that this only really matters for JobKeeper Step 1 Identify Form which is the 30% turnover test, it doesn’t matter for the Step 3 Monthly Declaration for the reasons I discussed in the blog post. – Jess
Brett April 3, 2020 at 2:27 am	- Reply
What about super guarantee payments during these times how will that work?
Jess April 3, 2020 at 2:59 am	- Reply
Hi Brett, for sole traders who are not PAYG employees of their sole trader business there is no super just as usual. If you employ another person in your business you should check out https://treasury.gov.au/coronavirus for specific information for employers. – Jess
Esther April 2, 2020 at 8:52 am	- Reply
Many thanks for the detailed information, I wanted to ask if you know I currently work full time and my full-time job has not been impacted I do Uber on the side so only the weekend since all of this started I had stopped uber due to some health issue I didn’t want to risk it so all in all I haven’t done uber is 3 weeks would I get any payments?
Jess April 2, 2020 at 10:04 am	- Reply
Hi Esther, I’m sorry I can’t advise on individual eligibility, but I think the section with the heading Employment + Uber is where you will find the information that relates to your question. – Jess
John April 2, 2020 at 12:32 am	- Reply
My UBER vehicle was being repaired for most of February and nearly three weeks of March (thanks NRMA repairer!) so by the time it was ready, I considered the situation on the roads to be unsafe and no longer viable. Do you know whether, in my case, I need to have driven for some time to prove the 30% loss in income or if the downturn in UBER activity is generally accepted as real? For now, I haven’t any proof in reduction of income in actual UBER payments. Thanks again.
Jess April 2, 2020 at 12:45 am	- Reply
Hi John, we have very little information on the 30% test right now, I don’t think the government have figured all these questions out themselves just yet. Stay tuned after Wednesday 8th when the legislation is passed in Parliament and then we should have all the specifics. – Jess
Murray April 1, 2020 at 5:06 am	- Reply
Thanks for the great information. Do you now how the jobkeeper payment will work if you drive for multiple companies such as Uber and Ola under the one ABN? Will I report total income from both companies that has been reduced by 30% or just pick one?
Jess April 1, 2020 at 5:19 am	- Reply
Hi Murray, you need to calculate your total rideshare income. The ATO won’t view them as separate jobs, it’s all one business that you’re running under your ABN. – Jess
Matt March 31, 2020 at 2:27 pm	- Reply
Wow thanks Jess for this! Is so helpful. What city are you located in? As I might get you to do my tax return and BAS statements in the future. Thanks again for all the info you provided.
Jess March 31, 2020 at 11:37 pm	- Reply
Hi Matt, you’re very welcome! We’re a 100% online company, so we can look after drivers across Australia. Here’s some more information about our BAS and Tax services: https://www.drivetax.com.au/uber-tax-services/ All the best! – Jess
Victor March 31, 2020 at 9:06 am	- Reply
Thank you so much, for all your work in keeping us up to date, it is really appreciated.
Jess March 31, 2020 at 9:07 am	- Reply
marwan March 31, 2020 at 7:47 am	- Reply
Hi jess please you can tell me how can i apply to job keeper payment i am uber driver ? Thank you so much ..
Jess March 31, 2020 at 7:52 am	- Reply
Hi Marwan, all the information we have right now is contained in the blog post above. Please take a look at the section about the JobKeeper Payment towards the top fo the blog post. All the best, – Jess
Prasanna Raman April 1, 2020 at 12:04 pm	- Reply
Thank you for the wonderful and such a helpful article. When I went to the ATO site to register interest, one of the fields they ask for is ‘Business Name’ as a mandatory field.
I don’t know that my business has a name. I only got an ABN, but don’t recall having to associate any name with it. I just went ahead and put my own name under that field, but I’m not sure if that’s right.
Jess April 2, 2020 at 12:16 am	- Reply
Hi Prasanna, that is exactly right. Unless you register a separate business name (which is unnecessary for rideshare drivers), the ATO just uses your own name. All the best! – Jess
Roger March 31, 2020 at 12:10 am	- Reply
Thx for the excellent work you put together for us Uber Partners. I have a question. Both myself and my wife are full time employees, and we do some Uber as a Part time to chip in for our expenses. However you can realize that we have stopped doing Uber for health issues as we dont want to risk bringing the virus to home for our kids sake. Therefore the Uber income has dropped to zero during march and we foresee that it will be so for a number of months ahead. Are we eligible for the Jobkeeper payment? I believe that this is driven by the ATO and not Centrelink, but are there specific eligibility income criteria i9nvolved?
Jess March 31, 2020 at 7:19 am	- Reply
Hi Roger, I’ve just updated the post with all the info we have right now on the JobKeeper payment. I hope this helps! – Jess
Gaby March 30, 2020 at 7:26 am	- Reply
Hi Jess, We just heard today about the new JobKeeper payments and how these also apply to sole traders. Will ride share drivers be able to apply for these? If so, can you please direct us to where we can find information on the requirements? Thanks for all the useful information you provide
Jess March 30, 2020 at 10:08 am	- Reply
Hi Gaby, the JobKeeper Payment does indeed look like good news! Details are still coming through and it will take me a little while to unpack, so please hang tight and I’ll post an update here asap, likely tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday 30th). – Jess
John March 27, 2020 at 10:37 pm	- Reply
Hey Jess, Thanks very much for this informative blog, You’re life saver. I have one question if you can answer please, I’m full time uber driver and my partner works and makes more than $1800 forthrightly. As you know Uber work is dead now, Can I still get allowance from Centrelink in this Coronavirus crisis and how much ?
Jess March 28, 2020 at 1:40 am	- Reply
Hi John, I hope you’re keeping well. I’m sorry I’m not a Centrelink expert, so I don’t know exactly how the rules for assessing your income and your partner’s income work. I did read in the news that many are campaigning to temporarily change the current system of assessing partner income, so stay tuned for more on that. I’ll do my best to research further and update this post accordingly. All the best, – Jess
Ankush March 25, 2020 at 2:19 am	- Reply
Thanku so much for writing this one and only article about uber driver problems. I was searching anything related to uber financial support in this extraordinary hard environment. You are the only Hero who choose to write about thousands of uber people. Hatts off to you. Thanks.
Jess March 25, 2020 at 3:07 am	- Reply
Thankyou for the kind words Ankush! I hope the government will soon have more support for all the gig-economy workers in Australia.
Dennis March 31, 2020 at 7:22 am	- Reply
Well said Ankush! I agree entirely – Thank you very much Jess :o) !!
Jess March 31, 2020 at 7:30 am	- Reply
Thankyou Dennis! Stay well!
Jamil April 11, 2020 at 3:27 am	- Reply
Hi jess my query is about employment + uber
I am full time employee plus driving uber on a casual basis from last 3 years and up todate/lodged with my tax return and BAS till todate.
My full time salary did not dropped because our employer is not qualified for job keeper payment however my uber income is effected and due to less work and health safety reason I am not driving uber from end of March 2020.
Am i eligible for this job keeper payment because of my uber income dropped? I already submitted “expression of interest” on ATO website. Pls advice me as per my situation. Thanks
Jess April 11, 2020 at 11:30 pm	- Reply
Hi Jamil, I’m sorry I cannot advise on individual eligibility. You can find your answer in the ‘Employment + Uber’ section above. – Jess