New financial support for businesses affected by Omicron

New Targeted COVID Support Payment

• Applications for the first payment open on February 28, with payments starting from March 1.
• To get the first payment you will need to show income is 40% lower in a 7-day period any time from February 16, compared to a typical 7-day period between 5 January 2022 and 15 February 2022.
• Each COVID Support Payment will be $4000 per business
• Additional payment of $400 per full-time employee, capped at 50 FTEs or $24,000 – the same rate as the most recent Transition Payment.
• Three total payments, each made on a fortnightly basis for six weeks
• The Government may extend payments to go on for longer than the initial six weeks, depending on when the peak of the Omicron outbreak should pass.

Changes to the Small Business Cashflow Loans

• Introduction of a ‘top up’ loan.
• Firms that have already accessed a loan can draw down an additional $10,000
• A new repayment period of five years
• First two years of the new repayment period is interest free.
• The first two years of accrued base interest will be waived from all borrowers who have, or will, take out a loan under the scheme. This change will mean interest will only start accruing at the beginning of year three.

Tax Payment Dates

• Any businesses struggling to pay tax because of the impacts of COVID should log on to myIR to see if they can delay starting payments to a later date, or if any part of the tax could be written off. IR can help with both GST and provisional tax due.