Despite refusing to recover millions of dollars in JobKeeper subsidies from profitable companies,
Services Australia told Senate Estimates that thousands of people have had a debt raised amounting to $32.8 million “after the completion of a review of their income support payments and the JobKeeper income that was paid to them by their employer”.
Among the people to receive letters were temporary migrants who were ineligible to receive JobKeeper payments due to their visa status.
However, Gabriel Dain from the Migrant Workers Centre tells SBS Spanish that before returning the money, this cohort should consider their right to appeal the department's order.
When Australia introduced restrictions and lockdown measures in 2020, many temporary migrants who lost their jobs contacted the Australian Tax Office (ATO) to find out if they were eligible to receive JobKeeper - a $1500 fortnightly subsidy, introduced by the federal government for people who became unemployed as a result of the pandemic.
“At the time of applying for JobKeeper, many workers also sought advice from tax agents to confirm if they qualified,” Mr Dain says.
According to Mr Dain, those migrants were told to send their applications to the ATO, as the department was supposed to evaluate each case and if they were deemed ineligible, they would be rejected.
Overpayment letter from the ATO. Source: Gabriel Dain
“This started during last year's lockdown … at that time the (JobKeeper) program was not open to people on temporary visas, but there were independent contractors who approached the ATO and sought advice to see if they could apply. At the time, the ATO and many tax agents, (told) them to apply to JobKeeper and they were approved."
Months after the subsidy stopped, many recipients received a letter from the ATO stating they were ineligible and owed the department thousands of dollars.
"The ATO is sending letters, ordering payment or reimbursement of these amounts from JobKeeper to workers who received it when they were on temporary visas," Mr Dain explains.
SBS Spanish sought comment from the ATO regarding the JobKeeper application and payment refund process.
An ATO spokesperson responded in a statement: "To claim the JobKeeper payment, employers and other entities claiming needed to self-assess their eligibility and that of their employees or eligible business participants before making a claim. An overpayment occurs where it was incorrectly self-assessed.
"The ATO only stops applications before making payment in the highest risk cases or we have data available at that time that gives us a high confidence that the application is incorrect."
But Mr Dain argues that this was "an error” made by the ATO, and as such, it is unfair to ask temporary migrants to return overpayments that, after several months, have amounted to large sums.
"We are talking about thousands upon thousands of dollars. In some cases, more than $20,000, that the ATO is claiming. This amounts to months of rent.
Almost all (the applications) of workers with temporary visas were accepted by the ATO outside of the regulations that the ATO itself had put in place; which excluded these workers with temporary visas.
"So it was the mistake of the ATO itself in accepting these applications.”
The debt letters have given rise to claims of double standards by the federal government, between individuals and businesses who claimed the wage subsidy.
A letter with a decision on an appeal. Source: Gabriel Dain
While some companies, such as Super Retail Group, Cochlear, Nine Entertainment and Domino's, have pledged to return a percentage of JobKeeper subsidies, others have refused to return the money they claimed, despite generating significant profits over the period that it was offered.
According to a report by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), the government allocated $12.5 billion in JobKeeper payments to companies that experienced no revenue loss between April and June 2020.
Mr Dain says his organisation has been assisting some 20 migrants with temporary visas who received this demand for reimbursement of payments from the ATO to appeal this determination.
“We know that many workers decided to pay the amount because they did not know they had the right to appeal, or for fear of putting their visa or stay in Australia in jeopardy.
We know very well that there is a lot of fear in the migrant community about doing anything that could put the visa or stay in Australia in jeopardy.
He says the appeals that temporary migrants have filed with the help of the Migrant Workers Centre have been successful.
"Fortunately, in all the cases we have attended, the ATO has accepted the objections ... so the recoveries were between $5000 and $18,000 for each worker."
The ATO states that it considers certain factors in "determining whether repayment will be sought", in cases such as: "The mistake was an honest mistake by the applicant, for example, an employer relied in good faith on a statement made by an employee in their nomination notice."
"As of 28 February 2021, the ATO has identified $284 million made in JobKeeper payment overpayments overall, (a portion of this would relate to non-residents). Of this, the ATO has recovered $138 million and is pursuing $82 million. The ATO is not pursuing $64 million of those overpayments where there have been honest mistakes.” the ATO statement reads.
The JobKeeper program officially ended on March 28, 2021. It was initially set to run for six months and conclude at the end of September 2020, but the government decided to continue running the subsidy as the pandemic progressed.
