Last chance to apply for the wage subsidy extension – and a reminder about IRD notices

Now’s the time to get in touch about the wage subsidy

Is your business still struggling with the impact of the lockdowns? Applications for the government’s wage subsidy extension expire on September 1, so if you think your business might qualify, get in touch with us immediately.

The subsidy provides $585.80 a week for full-time employees and $350 a week for part-time employees. It covers eight weeks: $4,684 for full-timers and $2800 for part-timers, all tax free.

Is your business is eligible?

Your business needs to have had a 40% drop in revenue for a 30-day period in the 40 days before you apply. We’ll take a look at your accounts for the past months and see if there’s a period where your revenue is down 40% on last years. Then we can help you apply and if you’re eligible you’ll get the money in your account very rapidly.

Will there be another wage subsidy now we’ve had another lockdown?

The government is thinking about funding another wage subsidy for Auckland if the lockdown persists. Money has been set aside to support businesses in the event of another prolonged lockdown.

Check with us about any IRD notices

If you get a notice from the Inland Revenue in the post, or you login to MyIR and look at your information, it may be out of date. Before you make payments or panic about any tax that’s owed, give us a call or drop us an email.

The reason this happens is because the Inland Revenue Department is using automatic calculations, often based on last year’s results, which may not be accurate. Here at SME Financial, we’ve been working hard to recalculate how much tax you need to pay. We’re doing regular reassessments and loss carry-backs, which can reduce the amount of tax owed.

Get in touch

That means you might get a notice from IRD saying you need to pay a larger sum than you actually need to pay – talk to us before you make a payment or panic, we can check whether any IRD correspondence is accurate for your company’s current situation.

Any other questions you have about the wage subsidy or about how much tax you need to pay, just drop us a note or pick up the phone. We’re in lockdown right now but still operating a full capacity and normal working hours.