{"id":29548,"date":"2020-12-08T18:05:31","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T05:05:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertynoise.co.nz\/au\/?p=29548"},"modified":"2020-12-08T18:05:31","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T05:05:31","slug":"real-estate-agencies-in-australia-accused-of-double-dipping-millions-of-dollars-in-jobkeeper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertynoise.co.nz\/au\/real-estate-agencies-in-australia-accused-of-double-dipping-millions-of-dollars-in-jobkeeper\/","title":{"rendered":"Real estate agencies in Australia accused of ‘double dipping’ millions of dollars in jobkeeper"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOTO: A Sydney suburb from overhead. Real estate agents have been accused of double dipping millions of dollars in jobkeeper payments.<\/span>\u00a0Photograph: mikulas1\/Getty Images\/iStock<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tax office investigates agencies allegedly forcing sales agents to repay taxpayer wage subsidy out of their commission<\/strong><\/p>\n

Real estate agencies are under scrutiny by the Australian Taxation Office after being accused of \u201cdouble dipping\u201d millions of dollars in jobkeeper payments by forcing sales agents to repay the taxpayer-funded subsidy.<\/p>\n

The Real Estate Employers Federation has given its 1,700 members legal advice that the practice, in which agents repay jobkeeper out of their commissions so that employers keep the benefit of the subsidy, is perfectly legal.<\/p>\n

The federation\u2019s chief executive, Bryan Wilcox, denied it amounted to double dipping and said it was \u201cabsolutely not\u201d unethical.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would be negligent to say to someone, you should do this because of some moral position, because the alternative might be they shut their doors,\u201d he told Guardian Australia.<\/p>\n

However, the ATO said schemes to claw back wages payments were in its sights and warned there were penalties for making false jobkeeper claims. It said it could also refer cases to the Fair Work Ombudsman.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder jobkeeper, the obligation is to pay employees the minimum wage condition, being the amount of jobkeeper claimed by the employer for the employee,\u201d an ATO spokeswoman told the Guardian.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we identify contrived arrangements where employers seek to claw back the wages they have paid to employees, we will consider application of our scheme provisions and there are penalties for entering into schemes.\u201d<\/p>\n

It comes after controversy over\u00a0executive bonuses\u00a0and\u00a0payments to shareholders\u00a0that have been fuelled by jobkeeper money.<\/p>\n

The Labor frontbencher Andrew Leigh said jobkeeper was meant to support workers, not company owners.<\/p>\n

\u201cYet some real estate employers seem to think it\u2019s OK to claw back jobkeeper from their workforce,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

READ MORE VIA THE GUARDIAN<\/a><\/p>\n

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