As promised a further update from us and the further information we have received on the help the Government have been announcing so far.
Business Interruption Loans (Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme)
The scheme is up and running with over 40 lenders as stated by the British Business Bank, we would suggest you speak with your bankers if this is something that you wish to explore further. Further information can also be found on the following link - https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/ourpartners/coronavirus-business-interruption-loan-scheme-cbils/for-businesses-and-advisors/
Support for businesses that pay business rates
Local authorities have now given further guidance on the grants that are available to the retail, leisure and hospitality industries with a rateable value of £51,000 or less.
For those with a rateable value of under £15,000 they will receive a £10,000 grant and for those with a rateable value of £15,001 to £51,000 they will receive a £25,000 grant.
This is an automatic allocation based upon the details held by your local authority, they have said they will be writing to all businesses affected in the coming days with details on how to access the grant.
This is very welcomed news, please do check your post and speak to your local authority if you do not receive anything in the coming days / week.
Support for businesses who pay little or no business rates
Again, this is an automatic allocation based on the details held by your local authority. All businesses that receive Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rate Relief will receive a £10,000 grant.
The local authorities will be writing to the eligible businesses in the coming days on how they can access the grant, but if you don’t receive anything shortly please do speak with your local authority.
VAT payment Deferment
This is also automatic, all VAT payments due from 20th March 2020 until 30th June 2020 will be deferred until March 2021. You still need to submit your VAT returns within the due dates though, so we will be in touch once these have been completed as normal.
Support for Self-Employed workers
There is still not much support for those classed as Self-Employed, more needs to be done and we will of course update you if / when further help is announced.
In the meantime please do register with universal credits https://www.gov.uk/apply-universal-credit if you are struggling financially at this time.
All self-assessment income tax payments have been deferred until January 2021, so those due to pay payments on account in July 2020 will not have to do this.
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.
All UK businesses are eligible for the scheme and to access the scheme you will need to –
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designate affected employees as ‘furloughed workers,’ and notify your employees of this change - changing the status of employees remains subject to existing employment law and, depending on the employment contract, may be subject to negotiation
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submit information to HMRC about the employees that have been furloughed 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. Existing systems are not set up to facilitate payments to employers.
We are still working as normally as possible, from home. At present PAYE, VAT and other accounting deadlines will still need to be met during these unprecedented times even if payments do not have to be made. But we understand that a lot of our clients have been forced to close their doors, with little to no income coming in. If you are struggling to meet our fee payments then please do get in touch with Mel to discuss through, we want to support you as much as we possibly can whilst also ensuring we are able to provide you with the services you need right now.
Further updates will be issued once more information is made available and we remain at the end of the phone for any specific questions or help that you require.
As ever, stay safe and healthy.
Very Best
Dunnell Accounting