As the lockdown for New Zealand have extended., there is a new wage subsidy scheme open at 9.00am on Friday 15 October to 11.59pm, 28 October 2021.

This is for all businesses and self-employed people who have or predict at least a 40% decline in their revenue from 12 October to 25 October and meet all the eligibility criteria. The eligibility criteria will be same as https://www.strong.co.nz/news/2021/8/19/msd-covid-19-wage-subsidy

Business that applied for the first, second, third, and fourth round of wage subsidy can apply for the fifth round as well if meet all of the eligibility criteria for Wage Subsidy #5. However, if someone applied on 11 October for the fourth round, they could apply for the fifth round on 25 October. Early applications can't be accepted as each payment is for two weeks.

Businesses that didn't apply for the initial wage subsidy are welcome to apply for Wage Subsidy #5 from 15 October providing they meet all the eligibility criteria.

Please note that the payment may have some delays as Inland Revenue is updating their systems between 21 and 28 October. However, you can still apply during this time.

To ensure payments are processed as quickly as possible, it's very important the information provided in the application matches that held by Inland Revenue. If the information doesn't match, it may delay the processing of an application.

For more information, please refer to: https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/covid-19/wage-subsidy/index.html

We are also able to apply wage subsidy on your behalf,. If you are interested in applying wage subsidy, please don’t hesitate to contact us via celia@strong.co.nz.

Be well and stay safe.