Is your business hurting in these COVID times?
Is your business hurting in these COVID times?
3 additional forms of financial support for businesses with cashflow pressures because of COVID-19 announced.
These are:
up to 3 COVID-19 Support Payments (CSP)
changes to the Small Business Cashflow Scheme (SBCS)
an extension of Inland Revenue’s ability to remit penalties and interest.
COVID-19 Support Payment
The COVID-19 Support Payment (CSP) is a payment to help support you if you have a viable and ongoing business or organisation that has experienced a 40% or more drop in revenue as a result of one or more of the following COVID-19 circumstances:
the widespread presence of COVID-19 in the community in New Zealand
the public health legislative measures taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the New Zealand community
any business circumstances that are, or are reasonably likely to be, a consequence of the circumstances described above.
What is available?
Eligible businesses will be entitled to a payment of $4,000, plus $400 per full-time employee (FTE), capped at 50 FTEs or $24,000. You will need to meet the relevant eligibility criteria for each of the 3 payments. If your business has low revenue, the payments will be the lesser of the above entitlement or 8 times the revenue drop.
The CSP is not a loan, so you don’t have to pay this money back if you’re eligible for the payment. The payments must be used to cover business expenses. GST registered recipients will need to return GST on the amount of CSP received but will be able to claim back GST input tax as the money is applied to business expenses.
How can I apply?
Applications for the first and second COVID Support Payments are now open.
To apply:
log in to your myIR account and select the ‘I want to’ link
select ‘Apply for COVID-19 Support’
follow the instructions on the screen to complete your application
when applying for subsequent payments, go to the COVID-19 Support Payment account panel on your summary tab and select ‘Apply for the next COVID-19 Support Payment’. You may need to claim access to the account in myIR first by selecting ‘Add access to this account’ in the COVID-19 Support Payment account panel.
To be eligible for the CSP you must:
have experienced a revenue decline of 40% or more as a result of 1 or more COVID-19 circumstances (as detailed above)
have been operating your business or organisation since at least 16 January 2022
have taken all reasonably practicable steps (if any) to minimise revenue losses
have been operating in compliance with the COVID-19 Vaccine Certificate requirements (pursuant to COVID-19 Public Health Response [Protection Framework] Order 2021), for both the comparator period and the affected revenue period
not have received, have an application pending for, or apply for, or receive in future, a grant under the Cultural Sector Emergency Relief Fund: Grant for Self-Employed Individuals administered by Manatū Taonga - Ministry for Culture and Heritage (further details on this will be provided on their website soon). This only applies for the first CSP payment, you may still be eligible for the second or third payments if you received these grants
be living or registered or otherwise established in New Zealand.
How to determine a revenue drop
To determine a revenue drop, you need to measure your revenue over a continuous 7-day period during the affected revenue period and compare this against a typical 7-day revenue period in the 6 weeks between 5 January 2022 and 15 February 2022. Alternatively, you can use a typical 7-day comparator period between 5 January 2021 and 15 February 2021.
The affected revenue periods are as follows:
First CSP – 16 February 2022 to 4 April 2022
Second CSP – 7 March 2022 to 4 April 2022
Third CSP – 21 March 2022 to 4 April 2022
“Typical” revenue is revenue that your business earned during a continuous 7-day period that is considered to be normal or representative of the business’s revenue. If revenue is earned unevenly, then taking an average of the revenue in the comparison period and then selecting the 7-day period that is closest to the average is acceptable.
For more information about the eligibility of the COVID Support Payment visit www.ird.govt.nz/csp
