Covid-19 – Support for Small Businesses

Britain’s small businesses will be able to apply for quick and easy-to access loans of up to £50,000 from today – with the cash expected to land within days.

• small businesses will be able to apply for quick and easy-to-access loans
• businesses will be able to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000 with the cash arriving within days
• loans will be 100% government-backed for lenders, and businesses can apply online through a short and simple form.

For more information, Please Click here

List of Approved Lenders, Please Click here

For more up to date information, kindly visit HM Revenue & Customs website.

Self-employed workers who are impacted by the COVID-19 disruptions will be able to apply for a grant of 80% of their monthly profit calculated over a 3-year average (capped to £2,500).

Check if you can claim, Click here

Please click here to see how you can apply.

For more up to date information, Please visit HM Revenue & Customs Website.

Important note:  We suggest that you should make a claim yourself with HMRC, should you want us to make a claim on your behalf, our fee starts from £250 plus vat and varies from case to case.

Broadly, the scheme is available to all UK employers with a PAYE scheme that started on or before 19 March 2020. It covers part of the salary of employees who would otherwise be laid off because of the crisis – known as ‘furloughing’.

To access the support, employers have to ‘furlough’ employees, which means asking them to stop working but retaining them on payroll. This is a formal process with employment law implications and needs to be followed through carefully. Only furloughed employees on the payroll on or before 19 March can be covered. HMRC will pay a grant worth 80% of an employee’s usual wages, up to £2,500 a month, and associated employer NICs and minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contributions on the subsidised wage. Note that furloughed employees cannot carry out work for their employer during furlough and there are also rules around volunteer work and training.

For more information, Please click here

For up to date information, Please visit HM Revenue & Customs website

Find out if you can use the Corona-virus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme to reclaim employees’ corona-virus-related Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).

The Corona-virus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme will repay employers the current rate of SSP that they pay to current or former employees for periods of sickness starting on or after 13 March 2020.

The repayment will cover up to 2 weeks starting from the first day of sickness, if an employee is unable to work because they either:

• have corona-virus
• cannot work because they are self-isolating at home
• are shielding in line with public health guidance

Employees do not have to give you a doctor’s fit note for you to make a claim.

For up to date information, Please visit HM Revenue & Customs

For VAT, the deferral will apply from 20th March 2020 until 30th June 2020. All UK businesses are eligible. Helpfully, the deferral is automatic. Businesses will not need to make a VAT payment until after 30th June 2020.

Businesses will be given until the end of the 2020/21 tax year (5th April 2021) to pay any liabilities that have accumulated during the deferral period. VAT refunds and reclaims will be paid by the government as normal.

Please ensure you have cancelled your direct debit.

For Income Tax Self Assessment, payments on account due on 31st July 2020 will be deferred until 31st January 2021. The deferral is automatic. You do not need to be self-employed to be eligible for the deferment. No penalties or interest for late payments will be charged in the deferral period.

The deferment is optional. You can still pay your payment on account on 31st July you’re able to do so.

All businesses and self-employed people in financial distress, and with outstanding tax liabilities, may be eligible to receive support with their tax affairs through HMRC’s Time to Pay service. These arrangements are agreed on a case-by-case basis and are tailored to individual circumstances and liabilities. You are eligible if your business pays tax to the UK government and has outstanding tax liabilities.

Our advice to any of our costumes who have missed a tax payment, or who believe they are at risk of missing the next payment due to COVID-19, is to call HMRC’s dedicated helpline on 0800 0159 559. If you’re worried about a future payment, call HMRC nearer the time.

Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in England will not have to pay business rates for the 2020 to 2021 tax year.

Eligibility

You’re eligible if your property is a:

• shop
• restaurant, café, bar or pub
• cinema or live music venue
• assembly or leisure property – for example, a sports club, a gym or a spa
• hospitality property – for example, a hotel, a guest house or self-catering accommodation

For further guidance, please visit HMRC website

This guidance sets out details and eligibility criteria for:

• the Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF)
• the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF)

It informs businesses about the operation and delivery of the 2 funding schemes.

Please see full guidance on the link here.

The government announced a new temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), delivered by the British Business Bank, launched on 23rd March 2020  to support primarily small and medium-sized businesses to access bank lending and overdrafts.

The scheme is for businesses with viable borrowing proposals, up to £5 million in value, that the COVID-19 outbreak has ‘interrupted’. Businesses can access the first 12 months of that finance interest-free, as the government will cover the first 12 months of interest payments. Businesses are eligible for the scheme if they:

• are UK based, with a turnover of no more than £45 million per year
• meet the other British Business Bank eligibility criteria.

When the scheme was announced it was not open to businesses who could access loans on commercial terms. However, the government agreed these businesses can access the scheme if they self-certify the impact coronavirus has had on them and they have a viable borrowing proposal. Another change to the scheme means lenders cannot ask directors for personal guarantees on any loans under £250,000. Businesses with loans over £250,000 will have recoveries capped at 20 percent of the outstanding CBILS facility amount.

The changes are backdated to 23rd March 2020.

How to access the scheme The full rules of the Scheme and the list of accredited lenders is available on the British Business Bank website:  https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/ourpartners/coronavirus-business-interruption-loan-scheme-cbils/

This scheme will issue convertible loans between £125,000 to £5 million to innovative companies which are facing financing difficulties due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Future Fund will provide government loans to UK-based companies ranging from £125,000 to £5 million, subject to at least equal match funding from private investors.

These convertible loans may be a suitable option for businesses that rely on equity investment and are unable to access the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

The scheme will be delivered in partnership with the British Business Bank.

The headline terms setting out the main features expected to apply to the loans are attached at the bottom of this page.

For more information , Please click here.

Under the COVID-19 Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF), the Bank of England will buy short-term debt from large companies.

This scheme will support your company if it’s been affected by a short-term funding squeeze, and allow you to finance your short-term liabilities.

It will also support corporate finance markets overall and ease the supply of credit to all firms.

The scheme is delivered through commercial lenders, backed by the Bank of England.

It will operate for at least 12 months, and for as long as steps are needed to relieve cash flow pressures on firms that make a material contribution to the UK economy.

For more information, Please click here.

The government announced a three-month mortgage payment ‘holiday’  to help those in difficulty as a result of COVID-19. Personal credit ratings for delaying payments for up to three months will not be affected. The repayments would still need to be made in the future and interest would still be payable.

On 18th March 2020, the government announced emergency legislation to suspend new evictions from social or private rented accommodation while this national emergency is taking place.

No new possession proceedings will commence during the crisis. Landlords will also be protected as the three-month mortgage payment holiday includes Buy to Let mortgages.

• Find financial support for your business
• Find out what support your business representative organisation (BRO) offers
• Coronavirus support for business from outside government
• Additional government resources to support your business during coronavirus disruptions
• Find out how other businesses have used government support
• Support for UK businesses trading internationally
• Rules that have been relaxed to help businesses during the coronavirus pandemic
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• Claim a grant through the Self-employment Income Support Scheme
• Self-employment and Universal Credit
• If you cannot pay your tax bill on time
• Negotiate a mortgage payment holiday

• What you need to do and how to keep your employees safe
• Social distancing at work: sector-specific guidance
• Claim back Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
• Find out what to do if your employee needs time off to look after dependants
• Which expenses are taxable if your employees work from home
• Apprenticeships: how they can continue
• Guidance for Tier 2, 4 and 5 visa sponsors of people affected by coronavirus

• Cleaning your workplace safely
• Handwashing advice posters
• Construction sites and safe working
• Farmers, landowners and rural businesses
• Food businesses
• Freight transport businesses
• Medical and healthcare industry
• Shipping and sea ports businesses
• Supported accommodation, residential care and home care
• Transport businesses
• Avoid and report coronavirus scammers