{"id":"F2020L01295","name":"Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Alternative Decline in Turnover Test Amendment Rules 2020","slug":"coronavirus-economic-response-package-payments-and-benefits-alternative-decline-in-turnover-test-ame","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":130521,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2020L01295-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1. Name of instrument","sectionType":"part","heading":"1. Name of instrument","content":"## 1. Name of instrument\n\nThis determination is the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Alternative Decline in Turnover Test Amendment Rules 2020.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2. Commencement","sectionType":"part","heading":"2. Commencement","content":"## 2. Commencement\n\nThis instrument commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3. Schedules","sectionType":"part","heading":"3. Schedules","content":"## 3. Schedules\n\nEach instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.\n\nSchedule 1 - Amendments\n\nCoronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Alternative Decline in Turnover Test Rules (No. 2) 2020","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"1. After section 13","sectionType":"part","heading":"1. After section 13","content":"## 1. After section 13\n\nInsert:\n\n14. Business temporarily ceased trading during the relevant comparison period\n\n    (1) An entity may apply either of the alternative tests under this section if:\n    (a) the entity’s business had temporarily ceased trading due to an event or circumstance outside the ordinary course of the entity’s business;\n    (b) trading temporarily ceased for a week or more;\n    (c) some or all of the relevant comparison period occurred during the time in which the entity’s business had temporarily ceased trading; and\n    (d) the entity’s business resumed trading before 28 September 2020.\n\n    (2) The first alternative test is:  \n\n    the entity uses the current GST turnover for the same period in the year immediately before the business temporarily ceased trading instead of the entity’s current GST turnover for a relevant comparison period for the purposes of section 8, section 8A and section 8B of the Rules.\n\n    (3) The second alternative test is:\n\n    (a) if the relevant comparison period is a quarter, then the entity uses the total of the entity’s current GST turnover in the 3 months immediately before the month in which the business temporarily ceased trading instead of the entity’s current GST turnover for a relevant comparison period, that is a quarter, for the purposes of section 8, section 8A and section 8B of the Rules, or\n    (b) if the relevant comparison period is a calendar month, the entity uses the current GST turnover from the month immediately before the month in which the business temporarily ceased trading instead of the entity’s current GST turnover for a relevant comparison period for the purposes of section 8 and section 8A of the Rules.\n\nNote: Paragraph (b) is only applicable for the decline in turnover test under section 8 of the Rules including section 8A of the Rules (if applicable).\n\n    (4) For the purposes of subsections (2) and (3), if the entity:\n\n    (a) qualified for the ATO’s Bushfires 2019–20 lodgment and payment deferrals, then the entity may exclude the months covered by the Bushfires 2019–20 lodgment and payment deferrals and use the nearest month before or after the period, quarter or month as appropriate, unless the months covered by the concession are the only months available, or\n    (b) received Drought Help concessions, then the entity may exclude the months covered by the Drought Help concessions and use the nearest month before or after the period, quarter or month as appropriate, unless the months covered by the concession are the only months available.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"2. Application","sectionType":"part","heading":"2. Application","content":"## 2. Application\n\n    The amendments made by Schedule 1 to this instrument apply in relation to jobkeeper fortnights beginning on, or after, 28 September 2020.","sortOrder":4}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This amendment stays true to the original purpose of the Alternative Decline in Turnover Test Rules. It simply plugs a gap for businesses that were affected by prior disasters (bushfires/drought) and therefore couldn't use standard comparison periods. It does not expand the scheme beyond its intended scope of providing alternative turnover tests for JobKeeper eligibility."},"complexity_factors":["Requires understanding of the underlying JobKeeper Rules (sections 8, 8A, 8B) which are not reproduced in this instrument","Nested conditional logic: four cumulative conditions in subsection (1) must all be met before tests can be applied","Two alternative tests with different calculation methods depending on whether the comparison period is a quarter or a month","Cross-references to external ATO concession schemes (Bushfires 2019-20 deferrals, Drought Help concessions) in subsection (4)","Specific date threshold (28 September 2020) acts as a hard cutoff for eligibility","Note creates confusion by suggesting paragraph (3)(b) has limited application to certain sections, creating an exception to the general rule"],"plain_english_summary":"This law creates two alternative tests for businesses that temporarily stopped trading (e.g., due to bushfires or drought) to calculate decline in turnover for JobKeeper eligibility from 28 September 2020. It lets affected firms use either the prior trading year or the months before they stopped trading as the comparison baseline.\n\nIt applies to businesses closed for a week or more whose usual comparison period fell in that shutdown and who resumed trading before 28 Sept 2020, including those with ATO bushfire deferrals or drought concessions."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument expands the scope of the existing Alternative Decline in Turnover Test Rules by adding a new s14 that explicitly covers entities whose businesses temporarily ceased trading and provides two alternative turnover-comparison methods and related concessions (s14(2)–(4)). The change broadens eligibility mechanics for JobKeeper decline-in-turnover tests to include substitution of earlier GST-turnover periods where cessation overlapped comparison periods. The amendment applies to JobKeeper fortnights beginning on or after 28 September 2020 (Application clause)."},"complexity_factors":["Introduces a new section (inserted s14) with multiple conditional eligibility elements (s14(1)(a)–(d)): cause must be outside ordinary course, cessation length (week or more), overlap with comparison period, and resumption before 28 September 2020.","Creates two alternative calculation methods (s14(2) and s14(3)) that differ by whether the relevant comparison period is a quarter or a month and substitute different historical GST-turnover windows.","Cross-references and interaction with existing Rules s8, s8A and s8B (substitution applies ‘for the purposes of’ those sections), requiring reading across instruments to determine net effect.","Excludes and substitutes months covered by Bushfires 2019–20 lodgment/payment deferrals and Drought Help concessions with a ‘nearest month before or after’ rule and an exception if those months are the only months available (s14(4)(a)–(b)), creating interpretive choices.","Temporal application (Application clause): amendments apply to JobKeeper fortnights beginning on or after 28 September 2020, creating a date boundary for eligibility.","Ambiguities in terms such as ‘week or more’, ‘outside the ordinary course’, and ‘nearest month before or after’ increase administrative interpretation and compliance burden.","Limited scope and technical nature — focused numeric substitutions for GST turnover — but requires access to prior-period GST data and possibly interaction with ATO concessions, adding practical complexity for applicants and administrators."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument adds a new alternative “decline in turnover” test for JobKeeper calculations so businesses that temporarily stopped trading because of an external event can substitute earlier GST turnover periods when measuring a fall in turnover. It applies to entities that ceased trading for a week or more and resumed before 28 September 2020, and allows replacement months or quarters (with special rules excluding months covered by Bushfires 2019–20 or Drought Help concessions). It applies to JobKeeper fortnights starting on or after 28 September 2020."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/coronavirus-economic-response-package-payments-and-benefits-alternative-decline-in-turnover-test-ame","history":"/api/acts/coronavirus-economic-response-package-payments-and-benefits-alternative-decline-in-turnover-test-ame/history","analysis":"/api/acts/coronavirus-economic-response-package-payments-and-benefits-alternative-decline-in-turnover-test-ame/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/coronavirus-economic-response-package-payments-and-benefits-alternative-decline-in-turnover-test-ame/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/coronavirus-economic-response-package-payments-and-benefits-alternative-decline-in-turnover-test-ame/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/coronavirus-economic-response-package-payments-and-benefits-alternative-decline-in-turnover-test-ame/documents"}}