Further support for New Zealand’s small and medium businesses is welcome news but today’s Government package won’t substantially move the dial, National’s Finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith and Revenue spokesperson Andrew Bayly say.

“The tax loss carry back scheme is a good idea but rather than just two years, it should be aligned with the same three-year timeframe used for farmers experiencing difficulty,” Mr Bayly says.

“Extending the timeframe for landlords to cancel or extend leases will help at the margins but the reality is landlords will be acting cautiously given the fact that few businesses are out looking for office space,” Mr Goldsmith says.

“We need rental changes but we would have liked to see a more substantial Business Rental Support Package,” Mr Goldsmith says.

“The Government has also missed an opportunity to deliver any medium to longer term measures,” Mr Goldsmith says.

“We need to start thinking of ways to support businesses to invest when we come out of lock down,” Mr Bayly says.

“This could include substantially higher thresholds for expensing capital investment,” Mr Bayly says.

“The critical thing to help businesses remains getting out of lockdown as soon as we safely can,” Mr Goldsmith says.

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