In response to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Government is continuing to update its Economic Response Package which includes wage subsidies, business tax changes, a redeployment package to keep more New Zealanders in work and additional support for small and medium-sized businesses.
Wage subsidy scheme
All New Zealand employers who have been adversely affected by COVID-19 are eligible to apply for the wage subsidy scheme. Learn more
Business Finance Guarantee Scheme
Businesses can start applying to their banks for loans under the Business Finance Guarantee Scheme set up to support the New Zealand economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. To learn more contact your individual bank
Temporary loss carry-back tax scheme
A loss carry-back mechanism to enable a business to offset a loss in a particular tax year against a profit in a previous year, and receive a refund of the tax paid in the previous profitable year. Learn more
Changes to the tax loss continuity rules
Gives taxpayers raising capital a level of certainty to undertake these transactions, while also giving officials time to work through the detailed design of rules that can be included in a bill in the second half of 2020. Learn more
Greater flexibility for business taxpayers in respect of statutory tax deadlines
Inland Revenue will be given greater flexibility to modify timeframes or procedural requirements for taxpayers who are impacted by COVID-19. At this stage, the power will be time-limited for a period of 18 months and will apply to businesses affected by COVID-19. Learn more
Business tax relief
Tax relief and income assistance is available to people affected by the downturn in business due to COVID-19. Learn more below:
- Certificate of exemption
- Depreciation and low-value assets
- Difficulty paying tax
- Leave subsidies
- Provisional tax
- Tailored tax codes
- Use-of-money interest
New tax changes information
Guidelines from Findex on the proposed tax changes and what they mean for your business. Learn more
Measures to support commercial tenants and landlords
Extension of the timeframes required before landlords can cancel leases and mortgagees can exercise their rights to sale or repossession. Learn more
COVID-19 and the minimum wage
Guidance for employees and employers on the 1 April 2020 minimum wage increase during Alert Level 4. Learn more
Essential services information
Information on what is an essential service, including for primary industries, can be found on the COVID-19 website. If you are unsure if you provide essential service the advice is to shut your business during alert level 4.
- If you have specific queries about whether your business is an essential service, you can email MBIE at essential@mbie.govt.nz
- If you are an essential primary industry business, you may need to register for safe practice here
Exporters and importers
Government support and advice for exporting and importing businesses affected by COVID-19. Learn more
ACC support for business
- If you currently owe ACC for an outstanding levy, and you can't make a payment due to the impact of COVID-19, learn more here
- If you’re no longer in business, please let ACC know through MyACC for Business or by using the online form to make sure you don't receive an incorrect invoice. Learn more
- What to do if your employee is injured while working from home. Learn more
Childcare options for essential workers
To ensure essential workers can access care for their children if needed, the Government has agreed that a range of large home-based providers will provide additional support. Learn more
Community Awareness and Preparedness Grant Fund
The Government has made up to $4.8 million available for community grants to support innovative, community-led solutions that support local resilience. Learn more
Mortgage repayment holiday scheme
New Zealand's retail banks are offering to defer repayments for all residential mortgages of customers financially affected by COVID-19, for up to 6 months. For more information contact your individual financial provider/bank
The resources on this page contain links to other websites. Great South takes no responsibility for the information published on these sites and at the time of publication, had identified this as being a useful resource for business in response to COVID-19.
Areas of resource for your business:
- People Management
- Wellbeing support
- Business planning and finance
- Great South business support
- Alert Level 3 Information
Unite against COVID-19
The latest information from the Government and the ways that you can help to prevent the spread of the virus can be found here