We will accept postponement applications for 2021/2022 rates until
31 December 2021.
Who can apply
If you are a ratepayer experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 and you meet the eligibility criteria, you can apply for a postponement of your 2021/2022 rates payments.
Eligibility criteria for all ratepayers
- You must be a ratepayer experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19.
- You must have owned the property that you want to postpone rates payments on and since 17 August 2021.
See part one of the financial assistance and support section of our
Rates Remission and Postponement Policy for the full criteria and conditions.
If you are not eligible for assistance under the COVID-19 rates postponement scheme, visit
Help for low income households and community groups to see if you qualify for other financial help.
Property classification criteria
For rating purposes, every property is classified as residential, lifestyle, farm or business in our
Rating Information Database.
Eligibility is based on the rating classification of the property for which you want a rates postponement.
The following criteria are based on what the property classification was for your property on 30 June 2021.
Residential and lifestyle properties
In addition to the eligibility rules for all ratepayers, if you own residential or lifestyle properties, you must meet a separate criteria.
If you are a charity or incorporated society, you must:
- be registered with the New Zealand Companies Office or the Department of Internal Affairs
- be physically located in New Zealand
- have had employees who were legally working in New Zealand (if any staff were employed) on and since 17 August 2021.
If you are a company, you must:
- have a mortgage on the property for which you want to postpone rates
- be registered with the New Zealand Companies Office or the Department of Internal Affairs
- be physically located in New Zealand
- have had employees who were legally working in New Zealand (if any staff were employed) on and since 17 August 2021.
If you are
not a charity, incorporated society, or company (e.g. you are an individual, sole trader or trust) you must:
- be a citizen or permanent resident of New Zealand
- have a mortgage on the property for which you want to postpone paying rates.
Businesses and farm properties
In addition to the eligibility rules for all ratepayers, owners of business or farm properties must meet a separate criteria.
If you are a company, charity, or incorporated society you must:
- be registered with the New Zealand Companies Office or the Department of Internal Affairs
- be physically located in New Zealand
- have had employees who were legally working in New Zealand (if any staff were employed) on and since 17 August 2021.
If you are not a company, charity, or incorporated society (e.g. you are an individual, sole trader or trust), you must be a citizen or permanent resident of New Zealand.
For the purposes of this scheme, medium-occupancy and moderate-occupancy online accommodation providers come under the criteria of residential properties.
Who is not eligible for rates postponement
- Ministries and departments of the public service, state-owned enterprises, Crown entities, and utility companies.
- Ratepayers who did not own their property on and since 17 August 2021.
- Ratepayers who owed rates payments and penalties (those who were in arrears) on 17 August 2021.
The full criteria and conditions are set out in part one of the financial assistance and support section in our Rates Remission and Postponement Policy.
What financial hardship means
To be eligible, you must be experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19. We appreciate there are different types of financial hardship ratepayers may be facing.
Examples of financial hardship
- You have become unemployed.
- Your household income has reduced by 30 per cent or more due to COVID-19.
- You are receiving the wage subsidy scheme from Work and Income.
Examples of financial hardship for a company, charity, or incorporated society
- Your revenue has declined by 40 per cent or more due to COVID-19.
- You are receiving the wage subsidy scheme.
- You are receiving a government guaranteed business loan.
- Your accountant can verify you are experiencing hardship due to COVID-19.
In your application you will need to describe the financial hardship you are facing due to COVID-19.
You do not need to provide evidence of this as part of your application, but you will need to make a declaration.
We may follow up with you to request evidence once we receive your application. If you do not provide satisfactory evidence, we may cancel your postponement arrangement.
Fees and costs
If you postpone your rates you will need to pay an administration fee and interest on the amounts postponed.
The fees do not exceed the amount needed to cover our administrative and financial costs for the postponement.
Residential and lifestyle properties
- Administration fee - no charge.
- Interest rate - 4 per cent.
Business and farm properties
- Administration fee - $100 per property.
- Interest rate - 4 per cent.
When fees and charges apply
We will charge the administration fee only if your application is successful.
If we approve your application for this postponement scheme, you will still need to pay for rates as per the instalment date on your rates notice for amounts:
- over $20,000 or
- above the sum you want to postpone.
Any unpaid rates not approved for postponement will still incur penalties (not applicable if you are paying infrastructure charge).
We will add the administration fee to your rates account when we process your application.
We will calculate the interest costs for the current financial year and add them to your rates account at the end of each rating year (30 June 2022 and 2023).
Rates postponed for 2021/2022 do not need to be repaid until 30 June 2023.
How to apply online for rates postponement
Apply now
It will take about five minutes to complete this form.
