Here are some Questions and Answers about financial supports provided by NZ government, including Wage Subsidy August 2021 and Resurgence Support Payment (RSP).
Q: Can you apply the financial supports for me?
A: PAS Accounting Firm is available to help customers apply. However, we will charge you when we apply for you, so we recommend that customers can apply by themselves as the application is easy to be done.
Q: Can I apply for wage subsidy as a self-employed person?
A: If you meet the criteria, you can apply for that.
Q: Can I apply for RSP as a self-employed person?
A: Self-employed person also can apply for RSP, but you must have been in business for at least 6 months. For example, if you are a sole trader who has registered for GST, you can use GST Return to support your business time.
Q: Work and Income contacted me, saying that I’m not on the Self-employment list. What happened?
A: This situation might be that you are a new sole trader. You are in business for the first year and have no tax filing record, so there is no tax activity to prove that you are in business as a sole trader. Therefore, they require you to offer more information to support your business activity.
Q: RSP can only be applied for one time?
A: Each time IRD open the application for RSP lasting 28 days, you can apply once.
Q: Can I apply for RSP and Wage Subsidy at the same time?
A: If you meet the criteria, you can apply for both of them at the same time.
Q: When I need to repay the subsidy?
A: Different from RSP using an actual revenue decline, Wage Subsidy can use a predicted revenue decline. Thus, if you predicted a 40% decline in revenue that did not eventuate, you need to inform Work and Income within 5 working days to repay the subsidy. We also recommend you prepare the evidence of actual revenue as much as possible before you make the application.
Q: During the lockdown period, if my employees do not work, how should I distribute the subsidy to them?
A: Normally, you should pay your employees with their normal salary. However, if your employees’ normal salary is higher than the subsidy, and they do not work, you can pay them with the amount of the subsidy.
Q: Can I apply for the Wage Subsidy as an employer?
A: When applying for Wage Subsidy, there are two application links, one is Employer (for employer with employees) and another one is Self-employed (for employer without employees, i.e. self-employed). If you usually do not file PAYE for yourself, but get Shareholder Salary at the end of financial years and have employees, you can apply through the Employer link and fill both your employees and yourself in Employee List. If you have no employees, apply through the Self-employed link and fill in your company and personal information.
Q: I have been working during the lockdown period. However, I have to stay at home and cannot work from now, because I have been to the locations of interest. Can I apply for any financial supports?
A: If you are an employee, you can ask your employer to apply for Short-Term Absence Payment or Leave Support Scheme on Work and Income. These two are available for employers, including self-employed people, to help pay their employees who need to self-isolate and can’t work from home.
Q: My employee’s normal salary is $400, and the amount of the subsidy is $600. Should I refund the rest or give all of them to the employee?
A: Normally, the employer should refund the rest. However, there might be situations where employees work from home and increase their working hours. Then it’s fine to give all of the subsidy to them, but you need to keep any evidence to support that.
Q: The employee’s normal salary is $900, 80% of which is $720. After discussing with the employee, it is agreed that only pay for $600. Is this reasonable?
A: According to Work and Income, you must use your best endeavours to pay the employee named in your application at least 80% of their usual wages. If the employee does not work, you can pay for $600, but if the employee does work, it is not reasonable to only pay for $600. However, if an agreement is reached, we recommend that this agreement is in writing form.
Q: Can I apply for Wage Subsidy to a new employee?
A: It depends on whether you file PAYE for the new employee or not. If you have never filed PAYE for him/her before moving to lockdown, it is possible that the subsidy cannot be approved because IRD does not have any information from him/her.
If you have any further questions, please contact us: 09 303 2868
