[Australia] Probe reveals 'ghost' employees among JobKeeper recipients

[Australia] Probe reveals 'ghost' employees among JobKeeper recipients
17 Feb 2021

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) conducted an investigation into employers who allegedly claimed wage subsidy for “ghost” employees in an attempt to defraud the $130bn JobKeeper scheme, Australian Payroll Association reports.

Official documents from the ATO showed that the employers in question were said to have included the names of dead people into their payroll and registered the deceased as applicants for $1,500 fortnightly wage support.

Additionally the names of people living overseas, prisoners and the spouses of business owners were allegedly used to swindle the programme.

The ATO had detected nearly 6,000 cases of “inflated employees” receiving JobKeeper payments by the end of September 2020. The office discovered that a third of these cases were ineligible but has not yet specified the number of employers alleged to have created fictitious profiles.

Despite these findings, the majority of the 95,000 cases subjected to compliance reviews did abide by the rules. 

An ATO representative reportedly said, “The ATO knows the vast majority of Australians are honest, and we have uncovered very few attempts to deliberately cheat the system.” 

“Our sophisticated compliance measures quickly identify potential rorts and payments are automatically stopped for further verification.”

The spokesperson also said that the ATO has been monitoring “every payment, every day, every month,” and that the office would continue to do so until the end of the scheme in March.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg expressed confidence in the ATO’s monitoring and lauded the JobKeeper scheme as a “remarkable” programme that has “supported 3.6 million Australian workers and around one million Australian businesses”.

There will be penalties for employers who attempt to defraud the system. “Whilst we recognise most businesses and employees are doing the right thing, there are a range of penalties available to the ATO, consistent with other tax laws they administer,” Mr Frydenberg said.

The investigation was made public after the ATO released official documents obtained through a freedom of information process.

Source: Australian Payroll Association

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) conducted an investigation into employers who allegedly claimed wage subsidy for “ghost” employees in an attempt to defraud the $130bn JobKeeper scheme, Australian Payroll Association reports.

Official documents from the ATO showed that the employers in question were said to have included the names of dead people into their payroll and registered the deceased as applicants for $1,500 fortnightly wage support.

Additionally the names of people living overseas, prisoners and the spouses of business owners were allegedly used to swindle the programme.

The ATO had detected nearly 6,000 cases of “inflated employees” receiving JobKeeper payments by the end of September 2020. The office discovered that a third of these cases were ineligible but has not yet specified the number of employers alleged to have created fictitious profiles.

Despite these findings, the majority of the 95,000 cases subjected to compliance reviews did abide by the rules. 

An ATO representative reportedly said, “The ATO knows the vast majority of Australians are honest, and we have uncovered very few attempts to deliberately cheat the system.” 

“Our sophisticated compliance measures quickly identify potential rorts and payments are automatically stopped for further verification.”

The spokesperson also said that the ATO has been monitoring “every payment, every day, every month,” and that the office would continue to do so until the end of the scheme in March.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg expressed confidence in the ATO’s monitoring and lauded the JobKeeper scheme as a “remarkable” programme that has “supported 3.6 million Australian workers and around one million Australian businesses”.

There will be penalties for employers who attempt to defraud the system. “Whilst we recognise most businesses and employees are doing the right thing, there are a range of penalties available to the ATO, consistent with other tax laws they administer,” Mr Frydenberg said.

The investigation was made public after the ATO released official documents obtained through a freedom of information process.

Source: Australian Payroll Association

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