Source: New Zealand Government
The Government’s Resurgence Support Payment (RSP) has been updated to better support newly established businesses.
The RSP is a one-off payment that helps businesses with costs like rent or fixed costs during higher alert levels. When this COVID-19 response scheme was first established last year the criteria was included that businesses had to have been operating for at least six months to be eligible for the payment.
“I acknowledge concerns that particularly during an extended period at higher alert levels this rule is overly restrictive. As such Ministers with power to act have agreed to reduce the time required for a business to have been in operation to be eligible for the RSP, from six months to one month.
“These businesses will still be required to meet the other eligibility requirements under the scheme, such as demonstrating a 30 percent decline in revenue,” Grant Robertson said.
David Parker said businesses will be able to apply under the new criteria from 8am on Thursday 9 September.
“Inland Revenue will communicate this change and contact any businesses who were declined for not meeting the six-month test to advise them of the new criteria and invite them to reapply under the new settings.”
“We have an economy that is operating at pre-COVID levels and unemployment down at 4 percent thanks to our strong health approach,” Grant Robertson said.
“We know that many businesses are doing it tough during these heightened alert levels. We encourage them to apply for the support that is available. We will also continue to assess the support schemes we have in place to ensure that we are doing all that we can.”
The Resurgence Support Payment includes a core per business rate of $1,500, plus $400 per employee, up to a total of 50 full-time equivalents (FTEs) which is a maximum payment of $21,500. Businesses with more than 50 FTEs can still apply but cannot get more than the maximum payment. The scheme will remain open for applications until all of New Zealand returns to Alert Level 1 for one month.
Businesses can apply for the payment by logging into their MyIR account. They can also apply for the Wage Subsidy Scheme, Leave Support Scheme and Short-Term Absence Payment as appropriate, through the Ministry of Social Development website.
For more information on COVID-19 business support measures, including full eligibility criteria:
https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/covid-19/index.html
https://www.ird.govt.nz/covid-19/business-and-organisations/employing-staff/financial-support/resurgence-support-payment
