Tax relief and income assistance is available to people affected by the downturn in business due to the COVID-19. There are a range of options available and we will cap off on these in a three part blog series.

The team at Ean Brown Partners are here for you if you have any questions or concerns. Please contact us via email and one of our knowledgeable team will get in touch with you to talk through things.

We will keep you up to date as information from the government and its agencies are released.

Part: 1 – What help is available for employers?

Leave and self-isolation scheme:

The COVID-19 leave and self-isolation scheme financially supports workers to self-isolate, or stay home when sick with COVID-19. This helps affected people to do the right thing.

The COVID-19 Leave Payment is available for people who:

  • need to self-isolate
  • cannot work because they are sick with COVID-19
  • cannot work because they are caring for dependents who are required to self-isolate, or who are sick with COVID-19.

The COVID-19 leave payment will be paid at a flat rate of:

·         $585.80 to a person working 20 hours or more per week

·         $350.00 to a person working less than 20 hours per week.

Employers receiving the payment for employees who are required to self-isolate can receive it for 14 days. As people may be required to self-isolate more than once, employers will be able to apply for this on an ‘as needed’ basis. It can be paid for the entire period an employee is sick (or looking after a dependent person who is sick) with COVID-19 but the employer must apply every 14 days. Self-employed people who are legally working in New Zealand can get this payment for themselves if they were expecting to work for the period of self-isolation.

For information about the wage subsidy option, please refer to our previous blog.

All information on support available for employers can be found here.

In part 2 of this series we will discuss what tax relief options are available for businesses and individuals.

Disclaimer: Please note this information is up to date in accordance with the posting date and time of this particular blog article. Any further updates released by the government and its associated ministries can be found on  https://covid19.govt.nz/ .