Who can get the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy - August 2021

Your business needs to meet the eligibility criteria as outlined below and agree to meet the obligations in the declaration to be able to get a COVID-19 Wage Subsidy August 2021. It's available to all New Zealand businesses and self-employed people that meet eligibility criteria.
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The full eligibility details and obligations are set-out in the declaration, which you must read and agree to when you apply for the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy August 2021.

YOUR BUSINESS

You must operate a business in New Zealand that employs and pays the employees named in your application. By business we mean:

• a registered business, sole trader or self-employed person (who may or may not employ other employees)
• a registered charity (incorporated under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908 and registered under the Charities Act 2005, or registered under the Charities Act 2005)
• an incorporated society (incorporated under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908)
• a non-government organisation, post settlement governance entity or, under specified circumstances, a commonly-owned group. 
• Note: A commonly-owned group is a business, for the purpose of applying for this subsidy, where one company within the group employs all the employees, who carry out their work at other companies within the group, and the other companies generate the revenue for the group (in order words, the employment and revenue generation functions are separated within the group). The company within the group that employs the staff must be the company that makes this declaration

YOUR EMPLOYEES

Each of the employees named in your application must be legally employed by your business, be employed in New Zealand and have not been given notice of redundancy at the date of your application.

When you apply for the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy August 2021 you must not also be receiving a payment under this COVID-19 Wage Subsidy August 2021 scheme, the Short-term Absence Payment, Leave Support Scheme or Essential Workers Support Scheme in respect of any of the employees named in your application.
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"Employee" includes you if you are a sole trader or self-employed person that does not employ employees.

DECLINE IN REVENUE

Your business must meet the revenue decline test:

• your business is being or will be affected by the move to Alert Level 4 on 17 August 2021, and
• your business has had, or you predict will have, a decline in revenue that can be attributed to the effect the move to Alert Level 4 on 17 August 2021 has had on your business, and that is:
• at least a 40% decline over the period between 17 August 2021 and 30 August 2021 inclusive (this is the revenue test period), compared to a typical 14-day consecutive period of revenue in the six weeks immediately before the move to Alert Level 4 on 17 August 2021 (this is the default comparator period), or
• if your business has highly seasonal revenue, you must have at least 40% decline over the revenue test period compared to the same 14 consecutive days in 2020 or 2019 (this is the seasonal comparator period), provided you can demonstrate that the seasonal nature of your business makes it harder to meet the 40% revenue decline using the default comparator period than if your business was not of a seasonal nature, and

the calculations and comparisons above cannot include any payments made to you from:

• this subsidy
• other COVID-19 wage subsidy schemes
• the Short-term Absence Payment
• the Leave Support Scheme
• the COVID-19 Essential Workers Leave Support scheme
• the COVID-19 Resurgence Support Payment
• the COVID-19 Small Business Cashflow scheme.

You can include a fall in projected capital income as revenue for the purpose of an application if:

• your business is a research and development intensive “start-up” business, and
• you have no revenue other than seed or venture capital or Government funding, and
• you’re recognised by Callaghan Innovation as a legitimate research and development start-up business.

EVIDENCE FROM YOUR BUSINESS

You must prepare and retain evidence to support this declaration, such as records that demonstrate:

• how the decline in your revenue was attributable to the move to Alert Level 4 on 17 August 2021, and
• if you're an employer that has highly seasonal revenue:
  • the basis on which you claim your business to be of a seasonal nature, and
  • how the seasonal nature of your business made it harder for your business to meet the 40% revenue decline using the default comparator period than if your business was not of a seasonal nature.

Mitigating Impact in your business

Before making an application, you must have taken active steps to mitigate the impact of the move to Alert Level 4 on 17 August 2021 on your business activities. 

​This includes (but is not limited to) engaging with your bank, drawing on your cash reserves as appropriate, or making an insurance claim.

APPLY ONLINE HERE

Learn More at Work & Income