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If your business has been affected by Covid-19, the time to apply for a government loan has been extended.

The maximum loan for a one-person business is a base figure of $10,000, plus $1800 counting the owner as an employee as well. For each additional staff member you have in your business, you can add another $1800.

The scheme is administered by Inland Revenue. It is open until 31 December 2020. The interest rate is 3 percent. If you repay the loan within 12 months there is no interest charge.

Since the scheme is being run by Inland Revenue, we cannot be certain as to what the department will do if you don’t repay your debt on time. They might apply the same interest rate (currently 7 percent) as they do for late payment of income tax.

The money is available for business operating costs only. Conditions apply to the loan. The eligibility criteria are the same as for the wages subsidy scheme.