Parliament will sit under urgency next week to pass laws giving tax relief to business, Prime Minister John Key said today.

Parliament resumes for the year next Tuesday and Mr Key said the House would be in urgency on Wednesday and Thursday. The Government would allow question time to go ahead despite the extended sitting hours.

Which legislation would be dealt with in urgency was yet to be finalised, but would probably include business tax measures and a "variety of other things we have on the agenda", Mr Key said.

On Wednesday, Mr Key is due to give a speech in Auckland outlining the Governments plans to help small and medium businesses weather the rough economic climate.

Mr Key said there would be a range of initiatives aimed at taking pressure off the sector, which employs 95 percent of New Zealand workers.

Changes would focus on tax, cash flow and regulation.

"It's one plank in a raft of responses from the Government to ensure that we can tackle this economic crisis to the best of our ability," Mr Key said.

The Dominion Post reported the changes included reduced penalties for companies which underpaid provisional tax.

The tax is paid in advance based on estimated earnings. Underpayers get hit with a 14.24 percent penalty.

Another likely change was to remove the presumption that profits would increase 5 percent on the previous year for calculating provisional tax.

Other legislation likely to be debated under urgency was Resource Management Act reform and a number of law and order measures.