UK Coronavirus Resources

TAX LIABILITIES VAT
Any VAT due between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020 will not need to be paid until the end of March 2021. You do not need to apply and VAT refunds/reclaims will still be paid. All UK Businesses. If you wish to take advantage of this and you normally pay by direct debit you will need to cancel the direct debit as soon as possible.

INCOME TAX
Self-assessment tax payments on account due by 31 July 2020 are deferred to 31 January 2021. You don’t need to apply and no penalties/interest will be charged in this deferral period.

HMRC TIME TO PAY SCHEME
If you have any concerns about paying any taxes due to COVID-19, other than the above, then call HMRC on 0800 0159 559 to discuss possible payment plans.

INSURANCE
This is a claimable event – contact your insurance providers to see what you are covered for some businesses will be covered for pandemics and government forced closure. Unfortunately I think most businesses will have standard cover which won’t include these but worth the call.

SELF EMPLOYED
This applies to sole traders and partnerships but not to limited companies.

There will be a one off payment to cover 3 months loss of income. This is based on the average of the income from tax returns submitted for 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19. A payment of 80% of the monthly average up to £2,500 per month will be paid commencing in June. HMRC should be contacting taxpayers in due course, but be wary of emails purporting to be from HMRC as these will probably be scams. If you are self-employed you can also apply for universal credit and employment support allowance which are available from day 1, and they have been increased and the minimum income removed.

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

https://www.gov.uk/employment-support-allowance

RETAIL, HOSPITALITY AND LEISURE RATES

2020/21 business rates will be £0 for all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England.

GRANT

Grant of £25,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with property with a rateable value between £15k and £51K in England. You do not need to apply it will be automatically paid to you if they have your bank details. (If they don’t update your details with them!) If you have the
rateable value is less than £15k you are eligible for the small business grant of £10k.Your rateable value is the value determined by size location etc to calculate your rates – you will find this on your business rates bill received from your local authority.

SMALL BUSINESS RATES GRANT

One-off grant of £10,000 for businesses in England that already qualify for small business rate relief or rural rate relief. You do not need to apply it will be automatically paid to you if they have your bank details. (If they don’t update your details with them!)

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan

Loans of up to £5 million for SMEs through the British Business Bank with the first 12 months interest free. To qualify your business must meet British Business Bank eligibility.

EMPLOYERS STATUTORY SICK PAY

If employees are off sick due to coronavirus then SSP is payable from day 1. Employers with less than 250 employees can get up to 14 days refunded – if sicknotes are required by the employer then these can be obtained by calling 111. For those self isolating visit NHS11
online and complete an online from. The Government is currently working on the repayment mechanism so good idea to keep good records of
all employee absences and details at this time.

CORONAVIRUS JOB RETENTION

All UK employers will be able to apply for support to continue paying 80% of employees salaries (capped at £2,500) for employees that would otherwise have been laid off during this crisis. The employees need to be designated as ‘furloughed workers’ and notified of this. This information then needs to be submitted to HMRC through a new online portal that they are currently setting up. Furloughed workers are those forced to have temporary partial or unpaid leave due to the economic conditions of an employer and are not allowed to undertake any work. This is to reduce the number of employees being laid off during this time.

COMPANIES HOUSE FILING DEADLINES

For accounts due during this period a 3 month extension is available. Where this is applicable we are applying for the extension on behalf of yourselves.

FUTURE UPDATES

The above is a summary of the information available at present. There are many grey areas at present and hopefully these will be clarified in the coming weeks. Keep an eye on the HMRC website as this is the most reliable source of new information.

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