The ATO has set its eyes on recovering a further $155 million in JobKeeper payments that were paid out to business that made deliberate or reckless mistakes in determining their eligibility.

Around $135 million have since been clawed back by the ATO, with another $50 million in payments deemed as honest mistakes and won’t be pursued for repayment.

The new figures, revealed by ATO second commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn at a parliamentary hearing last week, comes as the total taxpayer bill for the wage subsidy program has risen to $83 billion since its introduction last March.

Mir Hirschhorn reaffirmed that the ATO would not pursue honest mistakes that were made as businesses moved quickly to access the wage subsidy early on in the program.