Hon Grant Robertson

Minister of Finance

The new Resurgence Support Payment passed by Parliament this week will be available to eligible businesses now that Auckland will be in Alert Level 2 until Monday.

“Our careful management of the Government accounts means we have money aside for situations like this. We stand ready to share the burden with businesses when Alert Levels rise or in the event of a resurgence of COVID-19,” Grant Robertson said.

In order to qualify for the payment businesses must show a 30 percent drop in revenue over a seven day period compared with a typical similar revenue period in the six weeks prior to the Alert Level rise.

Or if it is a seasonal business applying they must show a 30 percent revenue drop compared with a similar week the previous year.

“The payment is available to businesses nationally if they can meet the eligibility criteria, not just those in Auckland. That decision recognises that many businesses rely on Auckland for revenue so it is only fair that the payment is available nationally,” Grant Robertson said.

The payment includes a core per business rate of $1500 plus $400 per employee up to a total of 50 FTEs. That is a maximum payment of $21,500.

Businesses can apply for the payment from Tuesday via the Inland Revenue website.

Other support available includes the Leave Support Scheme which helps businesses to help pay workers told to self-isolate because of COVID-19 and the Short-Term Absence Payment which covers eligible workers needing to stay at home while awaiting a COVID-19 test result.

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