With updates being given frequently, we felt it was important to create a single space where you can find everything that you need!
This hub has been created to act as a live database for you and your business. If you would like to discuss anything here, please email misty@griffinaccountancy.co.uk and she will arrange for a team member to get back to you, or call the office on 01392 241288.
The following list details all of the government advice affecting businesses and self-employed individuals.
Last updated 21 December 2021
Business Grants
Businesses that have been legally forced to close are already able to claim a grant up to £3,000 a month to help with passive expenditure, such as rent and rates.
A further grant scheme is now being made available to struggling businesses in tier 2 restrictions that are currently able to stay open, but have seen a decline in income. Cash grants of up to £2,100 per month will be made available through the local authorities and will be retrospective – claims can be backdated as far as August. This move is expected to primarily benefit businesses in the hospitality, accommodation and leisure sectors.
January 2021 update
Businesses in the retail, hospitality & leisure sectors can now claim up to £9,000 in grants depending on the rateable value of their property.
Businesses with a rateable value of up to £15,000 will be able to claim up to £4,000 in grants.
Businesses with a rateable value of between £15,000 and £50,000 will be able to claim up to £6,000 in grants.
Larger businesses with a rateable value of above £51,000 will be able to claim up to £9,000 in grants.
December 2021 update
All businesses in the hospitality and leisure sector are eligible to claim a one-off £6,000 cash grant per premises. A £30million top up recovery fund is also available for institutions such as museums and theatres. This will be administered by Local Authorities and will be available “in the coming weeks”.
The Statutory Sick Pay Rebate scheme is also being reintroduced, hence small and medium-sized companies with fewer than 250 employees will be able to claim for the cost of their employees’ sick pay during Covid inflicted absences, for up to 2 weeks per employee.
Businesses which borrowed against the Bounce Back Loan Scheme or Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme will be able to extend their loan term from six years up to ten years. The effect of this will be significantly reduced monthly payments to help with businesses’ cashflows. Other options include moving to interest only payments, or completely suspending payments for up to 6 months. The application deadline for these schemes has been extended to the end of November, allowing more business to take advantage of Government-backed loans.
The chancellor has said that making use of these loan alterations will not have an adverse effect on the credit score of the borrower. He also alluded to a new loan scheme which will become available at the start of January.
Additional funding has been announced as part of the Kickstart scheme to help businesses recover from the adverse effects of coronavirus. Funding of between £1,000 – £3,000 will become available at the end of August for specialist professional advice covering HR, financial (including accountancy), IT, digital and consultancy sectors. The grant could also be spent on equipment or technology that helps you adapt to running your business in the current climate.
Eligibility
The scheme is available to all small and medium sized businesses in Devon, Somerset, Plymouth and Torbay that are less than 25% owned by other companies.
What can you use it for?
Examples of some of the services that Griffin or one of our partners can offer your business include, but are not limited to:
- Getting access to finance
- Cashflow forecasting
- Financial modelling
- General strategic business planning
- Assessing and improving employee engagement
- Setting up staff incentive schemes
- Identifying cost savings
- Planning a restructure
Before applying for the funding, a quotation for the goods or services being purchased must be obtained as evidence. A full guide to the application process can be found here. Note that grants can only be spent on non-capital items.
Applications can now be made by downloading the application form here
Get in touch
If you have any questions about the process, or the services and goods available, please get in touch by emailing Misty@griffinaccountancy.co.uk or calling the office on 01392 241228.
The update delivered by Chancellor Rishi Sunak on 27 April brought the announcement of an additional loan scheme aimed at small businesses affected by the coronavirus. The Bounce Back loan scheme will launch on 4 May and enables eligible companies to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000 (up to a maximum of 25% annual turnover), with the cash to be made available within 24 hours of approval in most cases.
The scheme comes in response to widespread concern that many small businesses could not easily access previously existing schemes. Sunak answered this worry with the news that the application process would not require businesses to provide future models or strategies as assurance, and would only require a 2 page form to be completed.
The government have pledged to guarantee 100% of the loan which should enable lenders to process applications with increased leniency and efficiency. As with the CBILS scheme, the Bounce Back scheme will also see the government absorb interest costs for the first 12 months of the loan term. The interest rates will be set at 2.5% following the initial 12 month period.
To be eligible, your business must be based in the UK, negatively affected by the coronavirus and was not an “undertaking in difficulty” on 31 December 2019. Banks, insurers, public sector bodies, state-funded schools and grant-funded further education establishments will not be eligible.
Update September 2020
Businesses which borrowed against the Bounce Back Loan Scheme or Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme will be able to extend their loan term from six years up to ten years. The effect of this will be significantly reduced monthly payments to help with businesses’ cashflows. Other options include moving to interest only payments, or completely suspending payments for up to 6 months. The application deadline for these schemes has been extended to the end of November, allowing more business to take advantage of Government-backed loans.
The chancellor has said that making use of these loan alterations will not have an adverse effect on the credit score of the borrower. He also alluded to a new loan scheme which will become available at the start of January.
Please get in touch if you wish to discuss anything relating to the Bounce Back loan scheme by calling 01392 241228 or emailing misty@griffinaccountancy.co.uk.
The chancellor has announced a grant scheme for self-employed individuals that have genuinely lost income due to COVID-19, which could see claimants receive up to £2,500 a month. The grant will be calculated on average monthly profits over the last 3 years, unless the individual has been trading for a shorter period; in such cases, the grant amount can be calculated on the monthly average profits over a shorter time period. Note that the calculations will be made from the submitted self-assessment tax returns.
The grant is to count towards taxable income and must be included on the 2020/21 self assessment tax return. It is also important to note that company directors who pay themselves by way of dividends won’t be eligible, so this doesn’t apply to people working through personal service companies.
HMRC began contacting eligible people on May 4th, and you can check your eligibility here using HMRC’s online eligibility checker. The SEISS application portal opened on the 13th May. Payments are expected to be made within 6 days of the claim, which has been successfully achieved on the CJRS scheme already.
First Grant
Claims for the initial 3-month period of 1 March – 31 May closed on 13 July. Unlike the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, an application for the second grant will be available whether the claimant received the first grant or not.
Second Grant
Individuals and members of partnerships who meet the eligibility criteria will be able to claim the second SEISS grant from the 17th August. The second grant will be slightly reduced in value, calculated by taking 70% of your average monthly trading profits from the last three Self Assessment Tax Returns. This grant will be paid out in a single instalment to cover the value of 3 months’ profits from the calculation above.
Unlike the second wave of the Job Retention Scheme, you could be eligible for the second SEISS grant even if you did not claim the first grant. You will still be able to take on other employment if you receive the grant, but must confirm that your business has been adversely affected by the coronavirus on or after 14 July 2020. HMRC have provided a list of examples that would qualify you as having been affected as below:
you’re unable to work because you:
• are shielding
• are self-isolating
• are on sick leave because of coronavirus
• have caring responsibilities because of coronavirus
you’ve had to scale down, temporarily stop trading or incurred additional costs because:
• your supply chain has been interrupted
• you have fewer or no customers or clients
• your staff are unable to come in to work
• one or more of your contracts have been cancelled
• you had to buy protective equipment so you could trade following social distancing rules
Please note that if you are claiming the second grant you must keep evidence that your business was adversely affected.
Third Grant
The third grant will cover 80% of average monthly trading profits and will cover a three-month period. Claims for the third grant will become available on 30th November 2020
Fourth Grant
The Fourth grant will cover February, March and April 2021 with a yet undisclosed contribution from the government.
To make a claim you will need a Government Gateway account, and a UK bank account. If you have any further questions about the second and final SEISS grant you can email misty@griffinaccountancy.co.uk or call the office on 01392 241228.
The hospitality & tourism sectors have been at the forefront of much of the coronavirus support. In July, the government announced that VAT rates would be cut from 20% to 5% for businesses operating in these sectors, with the cut initially lasting until 12th January 2021. This deadline has been extended to the 31st March 2021, which should help over 150,000 businesses and protect up to 2.4 million jobs across the country.
There was a lot of speculation before Johnson’s update on 20th March as to how the government was planning to further support employers. What they have come up with, which has been received gratefully by many, is the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. As suggested by its name, the scheme’s primary objective is to prevent the laying-off of employees whose salaries would have been unpayable.
For employers to access this support, they will first need to identify and designate “furloughed workers” (workers who would have been temporarily laid off) and notify the employees of this change of employment status. This communication with the employee must be kept, but can be an email. This will largely depend on their employment contract and may be subject to dispute or negotiation. Employers will then need to submit information to HMRC about the employees that have been furloughed and their earnings through a new online portal (opened on Monday 20th April). Once the furloughed workers have been identified, HMRC will reimburse up to 80% of their salaries; this is capped at £2,500 per employee per calendar month.
Calculating the claim
The £2,500 cap relates to the gross salary element only, and any related employer contributions towards NI or pensions (at the auto-enrolment rate) can be claimed in addition. Note that as April is the start of a new tax year, all employers in receipt of Employers Allowance will have the £4,000 benefit reset, which means that only employers with large payrolls will make NI contributions in April. The government has confirmed that you can’t claim back the employers NI until your allowance has been used. Therefore, most claims in April will just be the gross pay (at 80%) and pension contributions. For employees who’s pay varies each month, if the employee has been employed for a full twelve months prior to the claim, you can claim for the higher of either:
o The same month’s earning from the previous year
o The average monthly earnings from the 2019-20 tax year
If the employee has been employed for less than a year, you can claim for an average of their monthly earnings since they started work.
The scheme is open to any employer in the country and will cover the cost of wages backdated to 1 March 2020. It will continue until the end of October and can include workers who were in employment on or before the 19th March 2020 (if an RTI submission had been made to HMRC before this date). A furloughed employee can take part in volunteer work or training, as long as it does not provide services to or generate revenue for, or on behalf of your organisation.
CJRS v2 (From 1 July)
The second phase of the CJRS is set to begin on 1st July, a month earlier than originally planned. CJRS v2, which it is being called, brings the possibility for employees to work part-time and remain furloughed part-time. The government’s decision to bring the date forwards is an indication of the stance towards getting employees back to work and could bring some much-needed flexibility for employers.
CJRS v2 changes
The amount of grant money available to businesses will not change for July or August, but the government contribution is set to reduce over the remaining two months. In September, 70% of the employee’s wages will be available to claim, followed by 60% in October, with the employer making up remaining amount (10% in September and 20% in October). From the 1st August, the grant will no longer cover National Insurance or pensions contributions made by the employer.
There is no longer a minimum furlough period of 3 weeks. Employees can be part time furloughed, whilst working part time, but the total number of furloughed employees cannot exceed the maximum number of furloughed workers during CJRS v1.
It is important to note that to be eligible for the furlough grant from 1 July, employees must have already completed 3 weeks of furlough. This means, in effect, that employees must be furloughed by 10 June to qualify for CJRS v2. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will not be accepting new applicants after 30 June. More detailed guidance will be released on 12 June.
An interesting nuance concerns the treatment of employees who would usual work on Bank Holidays. Government guidance states that for these employees, Bank Holiday work payments can be included in the grant. For employees who would have taken these days as leave, the holiday is expected to be given in lieu at a later date.
CJRS v3 (November 2020)
Unlike the second iteration of the CJRS, all employers will now be able to furlough any staff who were on payroll on 30 October; there is no requirement to have been furloughed previously. This will enable more businesses across the UK to receive support.
The CJRS has become increasingly more expensive for employers over recent months. The scheme is now being rolled back to its August variation, in which the government covered 80% of furloughed staff’s wages (up to £2,500) and the employer only covered National Insurance and pension contributions. Since July, employers have been able to bring back employees part-time, and furlough them for the rest. This will continue.
Claims portal
Claims can now be made online, with the government aiming to make payments within 6 days. In the meantime, it may be necessary for businesses to make use of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans. Please get in touch if you would like help making your claim, or visit the portal here.
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, being provided by the British Business Bank, is aiming to provide affordable lending to businesses whose cashflows are suffering. Loans of up to £5m will be available to borrow for businesses whose turnover does not surpass £45million, with the government pledging to pick up 80% of irrecoverable losses to the bank. Furthermore, the loans will be available free of interest charges for the first 12 months due to additional government provision.
The minimum loan amount available under the CBILS scheme is £50,001, with small amounts being offered through the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (as detailed above). Any business with a current CBILS loan less than £50,000 will be eligible to transfer this to the BBLS.
Interestingly, the government has recently clarified that for loans less than £250,000, there will be no need for personal guarantees.
Update September 2020
Businesses which borrowed against the Bounce Back Loan Scheme or Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme will be able to extend their loan term from six years up to ten years. The effect of this will be significantly reduced monthly payments to help with businesses’ cashflows. Other options include moving to interest only payments, or completely suspending payments for up to 6 months. The application deadline for these schemes has been extended to the end of November, allowing more business to take advantage of Government-backed loans.
The chancellor has said that making use of these loan alterations will not have an adverse effect on the credit score of the borrower. He also alluded to a new loan scheme which will become available at the start of January.
As mentioned in the Self-employment entitlements section, company directors who pay themselves by way of dividends won’t be eligible for the self-employment grant, so this doesn’t apply to people working through personal service companies.
With regards to the Job Retention Scheme, it is important to understand what furloughed pay does and does not cover. The grant payable from the government is only to cover 80% of salary going through payroll, and as such will not count any income taken as dividends. If a minimum salary is being taken (£12,500 or less), the grant would not offer a huge amount of financial support. The director must stop working completely in the business to be eligible for the scheme. We understand that statutory duties can be carried out but no services or revenue-generating work may be undertaken.
Other schemes that may be of use are the mortgage payment holidays and Business Interruption loans.
For self-employed individuals, income tax payments for self-assessment that would have been due in July 2020 will now be deferred to January 2021. You will be considered automatically eligible for this if you are self-employed, and no applications are required.
Earlier in the year, many businesses took advantage of VAT payment deferrals that would have become payable on 31st March 2021. These businesses will now have the option to split this payment into 11 smaller, interest-free payments paid monthly. To make use of the alternate payments, businesses will need to opt in. HMRC will put in place an opt-in process in early 2021.
With the number of employees self-isolating and social-distancing increasing steadily, employers have been facing staff shortages and cashflow problems, which has been accentuated by the sick pay subsidies provided. The chancellor has, in part, addressed this issue by promising a full refund of up to 14 days Statutory Sick Pay per employee – note that this only applies to employers with fewer than 250 employees. It is estimated that this could reach a value of £2bn across 2 million business.
The CSSPRS portal will be open for claims from 26 May 2020.
Small businesses that are eligible for Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rates Relief will be contacted by their local authorities about a £10,000 cash grant that has become available. The qualifying criteria for the cash grant is to have a premises with a rateable value lower than £15,000. Local authorities will be provided with funding in early April and will contact businesses automatically. You will not need to apply and can expect to hear more about this scheme soon.
A grant of £25,000 is to be made available to businesses operating in the hospitality, leisure and retail sectors if their premises has a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000. These businesses will also benefit from a business rates holiday for the 2020/21 tax year which will be applied automatically by the Local Authority. In the case of a business rates holiday, any existing Direct Debits must be cancelled manually, or may continue to be taken. For more information regarding eligibility for these grants, please contact your local authority.
List of properties that are eligible for relief
1) Places being used for the sale of goods to visiting members of the public:
− Shops (such as: florists, bakers, butchers, grocers, greengrocers, jewellers, stationers, off licences, chemists, newsagents, hardware stores, supermarkets, etc)
− Charity shops
− Opticians
− Post offices
− Furnishing shops/ display rooms (such as: carpet shops, double glazing, garage doors)
− Car/caravan show rooms
− Second-hand car lots
− Markets − Petrol stations
− Garden centres
− Art galleries (where art is for sale/hire)
2) Places that are being used for the provision of the following services to visiting members of the public:
− Hair and beauty services (such as: hair dressers, nail bars, beauty salons, tanning shops, etc)
− Shoe repairs/key cutting
− Travel agents
− Ticket offices e.g. for theatre
− Dry cleaners
− Launderettes
− PC/TV/domestic appliance repair
− Funeral directors
− Photo processing
− Tool hire
− Car hire
3) Places that are being used for the sale of food and/or drink to visiting members of the public:
− Restaurants
− Takeaways
− Sandwich shops
− Coffee shops
− Pubs
− Bars
A dedicated HMRC helpline for businesses and self-employed individuals who have difficulty with paying their tax due to coronavirus is now in operation.
The number of the helpline is 0800 0159 559.
The helpline can assist with all taxes, including:
• Agreeing a deferred payment date or payment plan
• Suspending debt collection proceedings, and
• Cancelling late payment penalties and interest.
2,000 HMRC staff are available on the helpline.
The outstanding debt needs to initially show on your HMRC account before any formal agreement can be made regarding a payment deferral or payment plan, without facing any surcharges or interest fines. It is important to note that HMRC should be contacted in advance of the payment date, so the necessary actions can be taken. HMRC are currently awaiting more guidance from the Government which they think will come either this week or next week at the latest.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s daily update on 8 April brought the news that charities and hospices are to be given over £750 million in the coming weeks with the aim to help them continue running their essential services.
The government will be contributing £360 million directly, with a further £370 million for smaller charities through a grant to the National Lottery Community Fund. The remainder will be raised during the BBC’s televised Big Night In on 23 April, with the government pledging to match all donations with a £20 million minimum.
The funding is aimed at aiding charities working on the frontline. This includes, but is not limited to, charities working with domestic abuse victims, vulnerable adults and children, St Johns Ambulance, Hospice care and many others. With this being said, the eligibility criteria for the NLCF is somewhat unclear. Payments are to become available in the next few weeks, as well as more information about who can access the funding and how to do so.
In the meantime, charities can still take advantage of the other available schemes such as the Job Retention Scheme (see above), paying no business rates for their shops next year, deferring their VAT bills, and Business Interruption Loans (see above).