This is a quick update in regards to support available from government for business. A second round of wage subsidy support is now available and the Government has reduced the eligibility criteria for the resurgence support payment.

Applications for round two of the Wage Subsidy Scheme (WSS) are now open. 
 

Applications for the second payment must be in by 11.59pm Thursday 16 September 2021. Eligible businesses anywhere in the country can apply for the WSS if they expect a loss of 40% of revenue as a result of the Alert Level increase announced on 17/08/2021.

Employers do not have to have already claimed the first round of payments. Employers who have already claimed the first round of payments can still apply for the second (and subsequent) round of payments.

Eligible businesses will receive $600 per week, per full-time equivalent employee, and $359 per week, per part-time employee. You can find a full breakdown on the Ministry of Social Development website - click here.

Change to Resurgence Support Payment (RSP) eligibility
 

Last Friday the Government announced a change to the eligibility criteria for the RSP.  A business now only has to have been operating for at least a month before the alert level increase on 17 August 2021. This is a change from the original criteria - which was 6 months.

This means if your business has been in operation since 17 July you may now be eligible for the Resurgence Support Payment. Note - you still need to meet all the other criteria.

The change will be active on the Inland Revenue’s website from 9 September 2021. Newly eligible businesses need to wait until then to apply, while those businesses whose applications were declined due to not meeting the previous 6 month criteria, will be contacted by Inland Revenue and asked to reapply from 9 September 2021.

The RSP is available if a business incurs a drop of 30 percent in revenue over 7 days, compared with 7 days in the last 6 weeks as a result of the Alert Level increase.

The RSP is worth up to $1,500 plus $400 per full-time equivalent employee, up to a maximum of 50 full-time employees, i.e. a maximum of $21,500. For commonly owned groups, the whole group needs to be eligible before each entity can claim the payment. Read more about the RSP here.

There are additional support payments available to businesses - like the Leave Support Scheme (LSS) & Short-Term Absence Payment (STAP). You can read about both of these on our RSM Covid-19 National Resource Centre

Before you apply, please consider your circumstances carefully and make sure you understand all of the obligation in the declaration that you are agreeing to. Both MSD and IRD can review and/or audit the information provided and may take action in the event that the information provided is false or misleading.

Please feel free to get in touch with us if you wish to discuss or require assistance with any of the business support mechanisms mentioned above.