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Covid-19 available government help

Available help for businesses

  • a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
  • deferring VAT and Self-Assessment payments
  • a Self-employment Income Support Scheme
  • a Statutory Sick Pay relief package for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs)
  • a 12-month business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality, leisure and nursery businesses in England
  • small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief
  • grant funding of £25,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with property with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
  • the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme offering loans of up to £5 million for SMEs through the British Business Bank
  • a new lending facility from the Bank of England to help support liquidity among larger firms, helping them bridge coronavirus disruption to their cash flows through loans
  • the HMRC Time To Pay Scheme

If you need more information about government help offered, please follow links below. This is a genuine government website and contains information which is updated on everyday basis.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses

Support for self-employed individuals – details:

Who will be eligible?

It will be available for sole traders who have submitted tax return for tax year 18-19 and their profits are less than £50k.

You will not be eligible for the grant if you started to be self-employed after 6th April 2020 or your profits from employment are more than 50% of your income.

Government will pay you a taxable grant 80% of monthly profits, up to £2500 a month for three months

Lump payment will be paid in June.

HMRC will work out the amount of average trading profits from 16-17, 17-18 and 18-19 and inform every taxpayer individually how to claim. We do not have to do anything right now.

Details of this scheme you will find here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme

If you have any questions regarding this scheme please email me.

If you are a director of limited company, you are not eligible for this scheme. You can apply for job retention scheme instead.

Job Retention Scheme

Job retention Scheme will be available to all employers to enable them to continue paying part of their employees’ salary for those that would otherwise have been laid off during this crisis.

This applies to employees who have been asked to stop working, but who are being kept on the pay roll, otherwise described as ‘furloughed workers’. HMRC will reimburse 80% of their wages, up to £2,500 per month. This is to safeguard workers from being made redundant.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will cover the cost of wages backdated to 1 March and is initially open for 3 months but will be extended if necessary. HMRC will set out more details shortly.

Most directors of limited companies paying themselves salary under tax and NI threshold – £720.00 per month. Under this scheme they will be able to get 80% of this amount (£576). Dividends are not counted as salary.

We will be able to apply for this scheme in June, until then employers (limited companies) should pay employees at least 80% of the amount from February payslip.

Details of this scheme you will find here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

If you have any questions regarding this scheme please email me.

Available help for individuals

The main advice for individuals is to claim Universal Credit.

You can apply for Universal credit here:

https://www.gov.uk/apply-universal-credit

All other information including sick pay and if you become a furlough worker you will find here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-guidance-for-employees

If you have any questions regarding this universal credit please email me.