IMPORTANT: This post is specific to New Zealand. If you are not a New Zealand business/taxpayer then it is probably not applicable to you.
On April 15 the government announced new loss carry-back rules designed to ease the tax burdens on businesses who end up with losses as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Normally losses must be carried forward (with some limitations) to future years to be offset against future taxable earnings. This is of little help to a business right now, and there is no guarantee of future earnings, especially if a business ends up closing down. In some cases tax payments from last year are still due, despite the business losing money in the next. Loss carry-backs are common in many other jurisdictions and allow you to effectively apply the loss to a prior year’s taxable income and get a refund of taxes paid for that year.