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Coronavirus disease

27th March 2020
  • Template letter for furloughed staff - this should be issued to all staff that have been made furlough
  • Updated guidance to how the Job Retention Scheme will work - is available through thislink

25th March 2020
As yet there is still no information regarding the 80% funding for furloughed employees. Having spoken with the HMRC Tax Advisors helpline line this morning they still do not know when the online portal is available or how it will work. More information regaridng the Job Rention Scheme and FAQ on furlough employees is attached.

24th March 2020
Guidance has been issued relating to businesses that are eligible for Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR), Rural Rates Relief (RRR) and the Retail, Hospitality & Leisure. The scheme is to be run by the local authority and as yet no timetable or guidance has been issued on how the process will work. Please follow this link for more information

22nd March 2020  
The Chancellor has set out a package of temporary, timely and targeted measures to support businesses through this period of disruption caused by COVID-19. This package of measures to support businesses including:
  • a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (see below)
  • the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme offering loans of up to £5 million for SMEs through the British Business Bank(see below) 
  • deferring VAT and Income Tax payments and the HMRC Time To Pay Scheme (see below)
  • a Statutory Sick Pay relief package for SMEs  (see below)
  • a 12-month business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality, leisure and nursery businesses in England (see below)
  • small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief (see below)



21st March 2020
Government guidance has been issued regarding funding, grants and support for small business during these testing times. Over the coming weeks we will continue to post information on what options and funding is available to small business.

The Chancellor announced further measures to support people and businesses through this period of disruption caused by COVID-19.
The Chancellor’s statement can be found at GOV.UK.
Updated guidance for employers, businesses and employees is available at:

COVID-19: support for businesses

COVID-19: guidance for employees

We will continue to share the most up to date information directly with you as it becomes available.

Support for businesses through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, all UK employers will be able to access support to continue paying part of their employees’ salary for those employees that would otherwise have been laid off during this crisis.

To access the scheme you will need to submit information to HMRC about the employees that have been furloughed (grant leave of absence) and their earnings through a new online portal (HMRC will set out further details on the information required)

HMRC will reimburse 80% of furloughed workers wage costs, up to a cap of £2,500 per month. HMRC are working urgently to set up a system for reimbursement.

 

Support for businesses through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme

A new temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme will launch early next week to support primarily small and medium-sized businesses to access bank lending and overdrafts.

The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80% on each loan (subject to a per-lender cap on claims) to give lenders further confidence in continuing to provide finance to SMEs. The government will not charge businesses or banks for this guarantee, and the Scheme will support loans of up to £5 million in value.

How to access the scheme

All the major banks will offer the Scheme once it has launched. There are 40 accredited providers in all.

You should talk to your bank as soon as possible and discuss your business plan with them. This will help your finance provider to act quickly once the Scheme has launched. If you have an existing loan with monthly repayments you may want to ask for a repayment holiday to help with cash flow.

The scheme will be available from early next week commencing 23 March.

 

Support for businesses through deferring VAT and Income Tax payments

HMRC will support businesses by deferring taxes to the self employed and businesses;

  • Valued Added Tax (VAT) payments for 3 months. If you’re self-employed, Income Tax payments due in July 2020 under the Self-Assessment system will be deferred to January 2021. The deferral will apply from 20 March 2020 until 30 June 2020.
  • Income Tax (Self-Assessment) payments due on the 31 July 2020 will be deferred until the 31 January 2021. 
This is an automatic offer with no applications required.
No penalties or interest for late payment will be charged in the deferral period.

HMRC have also scaled up their Time to Pay offer to all firms and individuals who are in temporary financial distress as a result of Covid-19 and have outstanding tax liabilities. If you have missed a tax payment or you might miss your next payment due to COVID-19, please call HMRC’s dedicated helpline: 0800 0159 559.

 

Support for businesses that pay little or no business rates

The government will provide additional Small Business Grant Scheme funding for local authorities to support small businesses that already pay little or no business rates because of small business rate relief (SBRR), rural rate relief (RRR) and tapered relief. This will provide a one-off grant of £10,000 to eligible businesses to help meet their ongoing business costs.

Eligibility, your business is based in England,you are a small business and already receive SBRR and/or RRR, you are a business that occupies property

How to access the scheme, you do not need to do anything. Your local authority will write to you if you are eligible for this grant.

 

Support for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses that pay business rates

Business rates holiday for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England for2020 to 2021 tax year.

Businesses that received the retail discount in the 2019 to 2020 tax year will be rebilled by their local authority as soon as possible.

 

Support for nursery businesses that pay business rates

We will introduce a business rates holiday for nurseries in England for the 2020 to 2021 tax year.

 

Support for businesses who are paying sick pay to employees

HMRC will bring forward legislation to allow small-and medium-sized businesses and employers to reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid for sickness absence due to COVID-19. The eligibility criteria for the scheme will be as follows:
  • this refund will cover up to 2 weeks’ SSP per eligible employee who has been off work because of COVID-19
  • employers with fewer than 250 employees will be eligible - the size of an employer will be determined by the number of people they employed as of 28 February 2020
  • employers will be able to reclaim expenditure for any employee who has claimed SSP (according to the new eligibility criteria) as a result of COVID-19
  • employers should maintain records of staff absences and payments of SSP, but employees will not need to provide a GP fit note. If evidence is required by an employer, those with symptoms of coronavirus can get an isolation note from NHS 111 online and those who live with someone that has symptoms can get a note from the NHS website
  • eligible period for the scheme will commence the day after the regulations on the extension of SSP to those staying at home comes into force

The government will work with employers over the coming months to set up the repayment mechanism for employers as soon as possible. A rebate scheme is being developed. Further details will be provided in due course once the legalisation has passed.