Finance New Zealand

NZ provides more support for lockdown-affected businesses

Eliza Sayon Sep 14, 2021

2 min read

With Auckland kept in a higher COVID Alert Level, the NZ Government has launched a third round of the Wage Subsidy Scheme for lockdown-affected businesses.

“The revenue test period for this payment will be the 14th to the 27th of September,” Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Finance, Infrastructure, Racing, Sport and Recreation Grant Robertson said.

“A reminder that this is available for those in Auckland, but also those around the country who can establish that their revenue loss is a result of Alert Level 3 or 4 in Auckland.”

The third round of the Wage Subsidy Scheme will open for applications at 9 am this Friday. Lockdown-affected businesses can also apply for another Resurgence Support Payment (RSP) to help them pay their rent and other fixed costs.

The RSP is available to all businesses who have had a 30 per cent drop in revenue while anywhere in the country is at Alert Level 2.

“The RSP was originally intended to be a one-off payment, but after consultation with our business community, we have agreed to make it a three-weekly payment – in recognition of the challenges businesses are facing,” Minister Robertson said.

Minister Robertson stated that the NZ Government was adding support to the country’s local businesses because of the difficulty they faced going through a second Alert Level 4 lockdown.

The NZ Government has currently paid out almost $1.8 billion in wage subsidies and $531 million in Resurgence Support Payments.

“The economy is operating above pre-COVID levels thanks to our strong public health response,” Minister Robertson said.

“These principles will continue to guide our approach to supporting the economy, businesses and workers at this challenging time.”

The Ministry of Social Development has approved over 427,000 applications from employers and sole traders during the administering of the wage subsidy. Meanwhile, over 25,000 delayed applications for the initial wage subsidy have been processed over the past week.

Some applications by sole traders have taken longer to be approved by the Ministry due to the mismatch of data between the application and the data held by Inland Revenue. The Ministry is currently working to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.

“It is really important that businesses make sure the details they provide MSD match the details held on their business by Inland Revenue. This small check will mean they receive support as quickly as possible,” Minister for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni said.

Source: Beehive.govt.nz Media Release. Content has been edited for style and length.

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.