JobKeeper: Most local car companies unlikely to repay taxpayer handouts

Australia's biggest car companies are unlikely to follow Toyota’s decision to return millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded JobKeeper payments – and nor are they obliged to – despite a strong industry recovery at the end of 2020. Last week Toyota Australia announced it would repay the $18 million in taxpayer-funded employee subsidies it received last year. Since the announcement, Toyota Australia has insisted its decision was voluntary.