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Following the unprecedented impact of the coronavirus pandemic on both individuals and businesses around the world, we want to share some help provided by the government, information about the schemes, eligibility, and how to claim:
You can claim for 80% of your employees’ wages (even for employees on National Minimum Wage) – up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.
You’ll still need to pay employer National Insurance and pension contributions on behalf of your furloughed employees, and you can claim for these too.
You can choose to top up your employees’ wages, but you do not have to. Employees must not work or provide any services for the business while furloughed, even if they receive a top-up wage.
You can only claim for furloughed employees that were employed on 19 March 2020 and who were on your PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020. This means a Real Time Information (RTI) submission notifying payment in respect of that employee to HMRC must have been made on or before 19 March 2020. If you had employees that were employed on 28 February 2020 but not on 19 March 2020.
From 1 July, employers can bring back to work employees that have previously been furloughed for any amount of time and any shift pattern, while still being able to claim the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme grant for their normal hours not worked. When claiming the grant for furloughed hours employers will need to report and claim for a minimum period of a week.
The scheme will close to new entrants from 30 June. From this point onwards, employers will only be able to furlough employees that they have furloughed for a full 3 week period prior to 30 June.
This means that the final date by which an employer needs to agree with their employee and ensure they place them on furlough is 10 June. Employers will have until 31 July to make any claims in respect of the period to 30 June.
Please contact the office, to guide you through your claim.
This is a free service for existing clients.
If you’re a UK VAT registered business and have a VAT payment due between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020, you have the option to:
HMRC will not charge interest or penalties on any amount deferred as a result of the Chancellor’s announcement.
If you choose to defer your VAT payment as a result of coronavirus, you must pay the VAT due on or before 31 March 2021.
You do not need to tell HMRC that you’re deferring your VAT payment.
If you normally pay by Direct Debit you should cancel your Direct Debit through your bank as soon as possible so that HMRC will not automatically collect any VAT due. You can cancel online if you’re registered for online banking.
You have the option to defer your second payment on account if you’re:
You can still make the payment by 31 July 2020 as normal if you’re able to do so.
HMRC will not charge interest or penalties on any amount of the deferred payment on account, provided it’s paid on or before 31 January 2021.
You do not need to tell HMRC that you’re deferring your payment on account.
Choosing to defer will not stop you from being entitled to other coronavirus support that HMRC provides.
You must make your second payment on account on or before 31 January 2021 if you choose to defer.
Under the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF) all businesses in England in receipt of either Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) or Rural Rates Relief (RRR) in the business rates system will be eligible for a payment of £10,000.
You will apply via your local council.
Under the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant (RHLG), businesses in England that would have been in receipt of the Expanded Retail Discount (which covers retail, hospitality and leisure) on 11 March with a rateable value of less than £51,000 will be eligible for the following cash grants per property.
Eligible businesses in these sectors with a property that has a rateable value of up to and including £15,000 will receive a grant of £10,000.
Eligible businesses in these sectors with a property that has a rateable value of over
£15,000 and less than £51,000 will receive a grant of £25,000.
Businesses with a rateable value of £51,000 or over are not eligible for this scheme. Businesses which are not ratepayers in the business rates system are not included in this scheme.
The Discretionary Business Support Grant is for small businesses that have been affected by Covid-19.
The grant is to help businesses cover fixed costs.
There are 3 levels of funding that can be awarded depending on the circumstances of your business.
Grants are available for:
You can apply for the Discretionary Business Support Grant if you are not eligible for the:
If you are receiving or have applied for the:
You cannot apply for the Discretionary Business Support Grant if you are able to apply for or getting the:
Businesses must be able to meet all the overall grant application criteria to apply.
Meet the specific grant eligibility so we can decide whether you will be awarded a £5,000, £7,500 or £10,000 grant.
Overall grant application criteria, your business must:
Please contact your local council for more information and how to apply for the grant.
If you’re self-employed or a member of a partnership in the UK and have lost income due to coronavirus, you can claim a grant through the Coronavirus Self-employment Income Support Scheme.
This scheme will allow you to claim a grant worth 80% of your trading profits up to a maximum of £2,500 a month. While the grant will be subject to Income Tax and National Insurance contributions, it does not need to be repaid.
Your trading profits will be calculated based on an average of your last three years of self-assessment tax returns. Your trading profits must also be no more than £50,000 and more than half of your total income.
To qualify, you must be a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership and you must:
Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)
The scheme helps small and medium-sized businesses to access loans and other kinds of finance up to £5 million.
The government guarantees 80% of the finance to the lender and pays interest and any fees for the first 12 months.
You can apply for a loan if your business:
If you want to borrow £30,000 or more, you also need to confirm that your business wasn’t classed as a business in difficulty on 31 December 2019.
Businesses from any sector can apply, except:
We have a broker that we work with who will guide you through the application, please contact the office for more information.
Bounce back loan Scheme
The Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) enables smaller businesses to access finance more quickly during the coronavirus outbreak.
The scheme helps small and medium-sized businesses to borrow between £2,000 and up to 25% of their turnover. The maximum loan available is £50,000.
The government guarantees 100% of the loan and there won’t be any fees or interest to pay for the first 12 months. After 12 months the interest rate will be 2.5% a year.
You can apply for a loan if your business:
If your business was classed as a business in difficulty on 31 December 2019 you’ll need to confirm that you’re complying with additional state aid restrictions.
Businesses from any sector can apply, except:
We can help with the bounce back loan application, please contact the office for more details.
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