As COVID-19 continues to cause disruption to our lives and businesses, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced further support with the aim of protecting jobs and helping cash strapped businesses.
Here is a brief summary of the announcements and you can find more detail on all of the support packages below in a series of help sheets on our Guide to support page.
Job Support Scheme
This will replace the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which comes to an end next month. It can be used to top up wages of staff whose working hours need to be reduced because of reduced demand or restrictions to trading. The Government will subsidise employees’ wages up to a maximum of 22% (capped at £697.92 per month) for 6 months. To qualify, employees would need to be working at least 33% of their normal hours. Take a look at our Job Support Scheme calculator to see how it would work for you.
VAT cut extended
The 15% VAT cut for hospitality and tourism industries has been extended until 31st March 2021.
VAT deferral repayment extended
If you deferred your VAT payments earlier this year and were concerned about the impact the repayment would have on your cashflow come March 2021, you can now spread the repayments over 11 months interest free.
Help for Self-Assessment taxpayers
You can now extend your tax bill over 12 months from 31 January 2021.
Flexible repayments for support loans
Application deadlines for CBILS and Bounce Back Loans have been extended to the 30th November 2020. The government has also announced changes to repayment terms to help cashflow.
Self Employment Income Support Scheme extended
This scheme has now been extended with two further grants covering the six months from November 2020. The first grant is for 20% of average monthly profits up to a total of £1,875, the amount of the second grant is still to be confirmed.
For more help, visit our Guide to support page, speak to your usual Hillier Hopkins contact or call us on 0330 024 3200 and we’ll be happy to assist you.