Contact us today for advice and help about how to streamline your business during this tough period or on any of the measures outlined below:-
Wage subsidy scheme:
Wage subsidies are available for all employers that are significantly impacted by COVID-19 and are struggling to retain employees as a result. The scheme will be open to sole traders and the self-employed as well as businesses.
The amount of support is $585.80 per week for a full-time employee (20 hrs or more) or $350.00 per week for a part-time employee (less than 20 hrs). The payment is made as a lump sum for a period covering 12 weeks.
The scale of disruption:
Employers must have suffered or are projected to suffer at least a 30% decline in revenue compared to last year for any month between January 2020 and the end of the scheme in June 2020.
Applications can also be made based on forecast revenue loss within the period of the scheme.
Leave and self-isolation support:
Workers and businesses have responsibilities to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The purpose of the COVID-19 leave and self-isolation scheme is to help workers financially to self-isolate, or while ill with COVID-19.
The COVID-19 leave payment scheme will provide support (through employers, sole traders and the self-employed) for those people unable to work who are in self-isolation, are sick with COVID-19, or caring for others with COVID-19. The payments will be $585.80 per week for full time and $350 per week for part-time workers.
The payment does not affect any paid leave entitlements that are owed and is available even if an employee is on paid leave for part of the period. It is not available to those who can work from home during the period of self-isolation, and who can be paid normally by their employer.
Payments able to be applied for and received from:
Employers will apply for the leave on behalf of any employee who is self-isolating or sick. Payments can be backdated to 17 March 2020.
Business cashflow and tax measures:
Reintroducing depreciation on commercial and industrial buildings:
Depreciation deductions will be reintroduced for new and existing industrial and commercial buildings, including hotels and motels. This will help support businesses with cashflow in the near-term and assist with the broader economic recovery by stimulating business investment in new and existing buildings.
Reinstating building depreciation will support longer-term economic productivity and macroeconomic objectives by:
- encouraging investment in business premises and decreasing the cost of such premises over time,
- improving business confidence; and
- enabling the capital cost of seismic strengthening of buildings to be depreciated.
Payments able to be applied for and received from:
A Bill containing this measure will be introduced shortly. The law will allow owners of commercial and industrial buildings (including hotels and motels) to start reducing their provisional tax payments for the 2020-21 income year immediately. There is no application process as the increased deduction will be available as part of normal tax filing processes.
If you are having difficulties or concerns about meeting your normal tax obligations due to the effects of COVID-19, Inland Revenue has a range of ways to help depending on your circumstances. See here for more information:-
For further key parameters and information about these schemes, please visit www.business.govt.nz
