• Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says companies which recorded strong profits over the last financial year won’t be required to pay back the JobKeeper subsidy payments they may have accrued.
• The statement comes after Super Retail Group, which operates Rebel Sports and SuperCheap Auto, today volunteered to pay back $1.7 million in taxpayer subsidies following an extraordinary spike in sales.
• Successful companies which received JobKeeper support “have no legal obligation to repay that JobKeeper amount,” Frydenberg said.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says he won’t try to recoup lawful JobKeeper subsidies from companies posting record profits, after Australian giant Super Retail Group volunteered to punt $1.7 million in unneeded payments back to the federal government.

Super Retail Group, which operates Rebel Sport, SuperCheap Auto, and outdoor gear supplier BCF, today revealed its net profit after tax is expected to hit $170 million in the first half of the 2021 financial year.

In turn, the group said it would return the $1.7 million in wage subsidies it received as part of the the federal government’s $101 billion lifeline through the coronavirus pandemic.

To be eligible for the payments, which were designed to keep employees on the payroll during Australia’s widespread industry shutdowns, a company first had to demonstrate a dip in quarterly or monthly turnover.

But as Australians launched into home workouts and traded Bali holidays for the Blue Mountains, Super Retail Group cleaned up. Monday’s trading update states total sales grew by 23% compared to the the first half of the last financial year, while online sales alone grew an astonishing 87%, capping out at $237 million.

That’s a lot of tents and kettlebells.

Responding to news of Super Retail Group’s million-dollar decision, Frydenberg today told reporters that businesses which thrived during harsh lockdowns aren’t expected to return those lawfully acquired taxpayer funds.

“Those businesses have no legal obligation to repay that JobKeeper amount,” Frydenberg said.

“But if they do so, then I’m not going to say no. That’s additional money that will flow into the government coffers, and it’s appreciated.”

That position contrasts with the zeal displayed by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in chasing down employees and employers accused of rorting the system.

In December, ABC reported that the ATO had opened no fewer than 19 criminal investigations relating to alleged JobKeeper fraud, and Frydenberg himself pointed to the “comprehensive integrity and compliance arrangements” designed to shore up the system.

While the Treasurer appears to be taking a hands-off approach to unneeded JobSeeker repayments, the federal opposition has previously accused some massive firms of using the taxpayer funds to float executive bonuses.

The JobKeeper scheme is slated to end entirely in March. It doesn’t appear the official stance on lawful but unnecessary JobKeeper subsidies will change between now and then.

“Businesses don’t have an obligation to pay back JobKeeper,” Frydenberg said today.

“That is a matter for those individual businesses as they see fit.”

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