Now’s the time to let staff know applying for paid parental leave just got easier.

In an effort to control rising house prices, the NZ government has implemented tax changes in regard to residential investment properties.

A reminder about the Government support available for business operators: the COVID-19 Resurgence Support Payment and the Wage Subsidy.

Further details are now available on the March 2021 Wage Subsidy. You'll be able to apply online from 1PM on Thursday 4 March 2021 and payments start from Monday 8 March 2021.

This month the Government announced changes to the Small Business Cashflow (loan) Scheme. Our article provides you with information on these changes.

Now we are back in the office (hopefully for the long term) and it’s just months away from Christmas. What a year it’s been!

Confirmation that Auckland has dropped back to COVID-19 Alert Level 2 with the rest of New Zealand.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the extension of Alert Level 3 in Auckland to 11.59pm on Sunday 30^th August 2020. Auckland will then drop down to Alert Level 2. The rest of the country remains at Alert Level 2.

Small and medium-sized businesses may be eligible for the business finance guarantee scheme to support operating cash flow disrupted due to COVID-19. The scheme supports banks to take on lending with the government taking on the default risk of up to 80% of the loan.

New Zealand employers who have had, or expect to have, a revenue drop of at least 40% because of COVID-19, for a 14 day period between 12 August to 10 September, compared to a similar period last year can get it.  Other eligibility criteria is similar to the previous wage subsidies.

The NZ Government has announced a further extension for the Small Business Cashflow (loan) Scheme (SBC).

COVID-19 rocked the boat for many small businesses in New Zealand. Business owners had to work hard to stay afloat. These three awesome Kiwi businesses hustled to help their business survive the storm of COVID-19.

The price increase to Xero Starter, Standard and Premium plans that was going to happen on 1 July 2020 is now delayed until further notice.

New Zealand now has no active cases of COVID 19. As of midnight last night the country has moved down to Alert Level 1. This means restrictions on gatherings, hospitality, transport and social distancing have now been removed. Border restrictions however remain.

As expected, the 2020 Budget has been a high spending one with a deficit forecasted to be $29.6 billion in 2021. We break down the expenditure and key initiatives.

NZ ALERT LEVEL 2 Our office will re-open with restrictions from Monday 18 May 2020. Whilst NZ is making slow but steady steps to return to ‘normal’, we are taking a leaf out of the Government's guidelines with our team returning to our own workplace. Client meetings can be held in person or via Zoom. Alliotts is adhering to the recommended guidelines to keep our workplace safe, clean and healthy during COVID-19.

The Prime Minister announced that New Zealand will stay at Alert Level 4 till midnight Monday 27 April. The team at Alliotts are continuing to work remotely and will reassess this on 11 May.

As we near the end of the initial four-week lockdown, the Government has released further Tax Measures to assist businesses including more complete information on what Alert Level 3 would mean. Yesterday the Government announced two further tax proposals - Tax Loss Carry Back Scheme and changes to the Tax Loss Continuity Rules.

The $1 billion BFGS scheme is available to all eligible New Zealand-based businesses with an annual turnover of $250,000 to $80 million that have been impacted by COVID-19.

At 4pm Friday 27 March 2020, modifications to the wage subsidy scheme were announced by the government.