Profit Focus Partners

If you have been claiming the JobMaker Hiring Credit, please be aware that the ATO will now calculate an adjusted baseline headcount for the claim. 

The ATO will amend the prefill in the claim form based on information provided in earlier claims.

The ATO does this each period by calculating the greatest headcount increase that occurred in a period that began 12 months or more before the current claim period.

The ATO then adds that increase to the baseline headcount.

This adjustment will happen because eligible businesses can only claim the JobMaker Hiring Credit for up to a year for each additional job they create.

The baseline headcount is an integrity measure designed to ensure that where an employer is claiming a JobMaker Hiring Credit for a new employee aged between 16-35, that they have also increased their overall number of employees.   

This is designed to prevent employers terminating the services of current employees and then replacing them with employees aged 16-35. 

Broadly speaking, to qualify for the JobMaker Hiring Credit an employer needs to have not only employed an eligible individual but to have also increased their overall employee headcount.