I can’t believe we’re almost in October. Where has the year gone!
It’s been a while since our last blog so there are a few things we wanted to update you on:
THE SMALL BUSINESS LOAN SCHEME – STILL AVAILABLE
The Small Business Loan Scheme has been extended again, and you can still apply for this up until 31 December 2020. For more details and how to apply click here.
Feel free to contact us on 03 374 9393 if would like to discuss if your business should apply.
LEAVE SUPPORT SCHEME
Applications for the COVID-19 Wage Subsidies have now closed. However, if you have staff that cannot work due to COVID-19 then you may be eligible for the Leave Support Scheme. You can read more about this here.
CHANGES TO THE BUSINESS FINANCE GUARANTEE SCHEME
Changes have happened to simplify & expand the Business Finance Guarantee Scheme. The new Scheme allows banks to be able to make more loans available since the Government is taking on the default risk of up to 80% of the loan. Some other changes include a higher loan limit and longer loan terms. You can read more about this here.
CHANGES TO TENANCY LAWS
Some changes have / will be happening to the Residential Tenancies Act over the following key dates:
• Phase 1: 12 August 2020.
• Phase 2: 11 February 2021.
• Phase 3: By 11 August 2021.
A change that has already happened as at the 12 August 2020 is that rent can now only be increased once every 12 months (used to be every 6 months). To read more about this and the other phases happening in the future click here.
Rent increases were also freezed due to COVID-19 legislation, but this ended on 25th September 2020.
POSSIBLE TAX RATE CHANGES – MAKING THE MOST OF THIS PRIOR
If Labour wins the upcoming election, the tax rate for income earned over $180,000 may go up to 39%. If you earn over $180,000 gross income, or have past retained earnings that take you over this threshold, then we’ll need to do some tax planning to make the most of the current lower tax rates. When we do our tax plan for your provisional tax on the 15th of January 2020, we will take this into consideration to make the most of this short window of opportunity.
MAJOR CHANGES TO THE TRUST ACT – OUR UPCOMING WEBINAR
Next month we will be running a webinar on this: Will your Trust be secure when the new Trust legislation comes into force in January 2021? If you have a trust, then you definitely don’t want to miss this! Look out for our invite coming next week so you can register!