Business

The Chancellor released an emergency budget today to help kickstart the economy and recover from the impact of Covid-19. It wasn’t a huge budget but I have outlined the points below:

1) Job Retention Scheme Bonus
For all employers who bring staff back off furlough, and retain them for 3 months after the furlough scheme ends in October 2020, they will receive a £1000 bonus per employee in January 2021.

The staff member must have been paid at least £520 on average per month from November 2020 to the end of January 2021 in order for the business to receive the bonus for that employee.

2) Kickstart Scheme
This scheme is worth £2.1 billion pounds and will help to create more jobs for youth who have been affected by the pandemic. It will subsidise 6-month work placements for people who are on Universal Credit between the ages of 16 and 24.

The government will cover 25 hours of work a week at the National Minimum Wage for those who qualify under this scheme.

Businesses will be able to apply from next month to take part in this scheme and there won’t be a limit to how many places there are available. The government is expecting the first jobs to start in the autumn and it will run until December 2021.

3) Trainees
The government has pledged to provide 30,000 new traineeships for young people in England and will give businesses £1,000 for each new staff member they take on under this scheme.

4) Apprentices
Businesses that hire an apprentice from August 2020 to January 2021, will be eligible for a bonus of £2,000 for apprentices aged between 16 and 24, and £1,500 for apprentices aged 25 and over. The £2,000 will be in addition to the existing payment of £1,000 that businesses already receive when they hire an apprentice aged 16-18 years.

5) VAT reduced for hospitality sector from 20% to 5%
From Wednesday, July 15th, the VAT charged on food, accommodation and attractions will be 5% and not 20%, and it will stay at the reduced rate until January 12th 2021.

This will apply to eat-in or hot takeaway food and non-alcoholic drinks from restaurants/cafes/pubs, accommodation in hotels/B&B’s/campsites and caravan sites, and attractions like cinemas/theme parks and zoos. The government has made this VAT-cut in the hopes that it will encourage people to go out and spend more money within the hospitality sector and it will kickstart the economy.

6) Eat out in August and get half-price meals
Every week in August, from Monday to Wednesday, people will be encouraged to go out and eat in their local pubs, cafes and restaurants, as the government has said that all meals at participating restaurants will be 50% less (up to £10/person). The discount will only apply to sit-down meals and non-alcoholic drinks.

Businesses will need to register to take part in this scheme and will be able to do so from next week through an online form. After a business makes a claim for the money from the discounts, the government has said they will receive the money within 5 days.

7) Vouchers of up to £5,000 for energy-saving home improvements
This scheme is part of a wider plan to help reduce emissions in the UK, and it is hoped that by helping homeowners to install things like cavity wall insulation, floor insulation, and double glazing, it will also support more than 100,000 jobs within the construction industry.

It will launch in September and people will be able to apply online for recommended energy efficiency measures as well as find details of accredited local suppliers. After an accredited supplier has provided a quote and the work is approved, the government will issue a voucher to help towards the costs of the home improvements.

Some of the poorest households could get up to £10,000 towards the cost.

As further details are released about the various schemes that were unveiled today, I will update my website as well as all of my social media platforms.

I am continually monitoring the updates that the government and other business-related departments release and will continue to share that information for as long as I feel that it is beneficial to all businesses in the UK.

The information and policies are continually being updated by the government, so I urge you to keep on top of the information by visiting the relevant website for your area.

UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses
Scotland: https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/
Wales: https://gov.wales/business-and-employers-coronavirus
Northern Ireland: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/

I will be trying to keep myself as informed as possible and will share relevant information on my fb business page: https://www.facebook.com/ihelmenterprises/

The government announced yesterday that the second self-employed income support grant will open up for applications on August 17th, 2020 and that it is being extended until 19th of October 2020.

They have also announced that there are some groups of people who can now claim both the first and second grant:

1) Parents who are self-employed who didn’t submit a tax return for the 2018/2019 tax year, or whose trading profits were less than their other income (which made them ineligble for the grant) because they were pregnant or caring for their newborn/newly adopted child and still meet the other standard eligibility criteria.

You will need to confirm with HMRC that being a new parent has affected your trading profits or total income for 2018/2019 and provide supporting evidence. There will be the ability to do this for both grants through an online form in August 2020.

2) Those who are army, navy and air reservists who were self-employed and didn’t file a tax return for 2018/2019 or if you did file a return for the 2018/2019 tax year but your trading profits were affected by specified reservist activities carried out for at least 90 days, and you were self-employed in the 2017/2018 tax year and submitted a tax return for that year, and all other eligibility criteria is met.

In both of these circumstances, HMRC will work out your average trading profits by using your 2017/2018 tax return or both the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 tax returns.

You can read the full updated guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme – under the “Who can claim section”.

The government has also updated the information on how different circumstances affect the SEISS grant scheme by adding additional examples of what being adversely affected means, a section for parents, and a section for military reservists. You can read the full article here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-different-circumstances-affect-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme

I am continually monitoring the updates that the government and other business-related departments release and will continue to share that information for as long as I feel that it is beneficial to all businesses in the UK.

The information and policies are continually being updated by the government, so I urge you to keep on top of the information by visiting the relevant website for your area.

UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses
Scotland: https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/
Wales: https://gov.wales/business-and-employers-coronavirus
Northern Ireland: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/

I will be trying to keep myself as informed as possible and will share relevant information on my fb business page: https://www.facebook.com/ihelmenterprises/

I have been monitoring the information that is being released by the government in regards to guidance to all of the businesses that are allowed to open up from July 4th.

This includes pubs, restaurants, hair salons, tourist attractions, hotels, b&b’s, campsites and caravan parks.

There are still many businesses that cannot open yet, and these include nightclubs, casinos, bowling alleys, indoor play areas, spas, nail bars, beauty salons, tanning salons, massage parlours, tattoo and piercing parlours, indoor fitness and dance studios, indoor gyms and sports facilities, swimming pools and water parks. Hopefully further guidance will be released soon on how these businesses will be able to open safely, and I will share that information as soon as it becomes available.

For all of the businesses that can open, I have had so many updates about the guidance and how these businesses can safely open, that I don’t think I can cover it properly in blog posts or social media posts – the information is changing that fast that I am struggling to keep on top of it.

So instead of me writing a blog post about all of the rules and regulations and such that businesses should follow, I am going to provide a number of links to where you can find the information that the government is producing. That way, you will be able to access the links directly and keep on top of it.

A lot of what the government is saying does revolve around social distancing. They are still saying that everyone must stay 2m apart, but where it is not possible to do that, they should stay 1m apart and take additional precautions to reduce the exposure to Covid-19. They are also encouraging every business to ensure that all staff and customers are using hand sanitiser and hand-washing facilities frequently to help reduce the spread of the virus.

Here are a list of links that you will find very useful to help you to be able to open your business safely:This is the article that discusses which businesses are allowed to open from July 4th and provides a brief overview for what each business should do: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/opening-certain-businesses-and-venues-in-england-from-4-july-2020

This link takes you to the page on the government website that has links to guidance for each individual business sector: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19

I haven’t provided individual links for each of the 12 guides that are listed on the page, but here are some of the ones that I think would be beneficial to the majority of my clients:
5 Steps to Working Safely: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/5-steps-to-working-safely
Close Contact Services: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/close-contact-services
Construction and other outdoor work: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/construction-and-other-outdoor-work
Hotels and other guest accommodation: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/hotels-and-other-guest-accommodation
Offices and contact centres: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/offices-and-contact-centres
Restaurants, pubs, bars and takeaway services: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/restaurants-offering-takeaway-or-delivery
Shops and branches: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/shops-and-branches
The Visitor Economy: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/the-visitor-economy

Each of these links goes into further details about how to safely open the business. It is divided into sections that you can open and read, but you can also download the guidance and a poster to display in your workplace. The downloadable document is very long and lengthy. All of this information is being updated regularly by the government, so it’s worth keeping an eye on it every week to just ensure you are staying on top of all the requirements for opening your business and operating safely.

I am continually monitoring the updates that the government and other business-related departments release and will continue to share that information for as long as I feel that it is beneficial to all businesses in the UK.

The information and policies are continually being updated by the government, so I urge you to keep on top of the information by visiting the relevant website for your area.

UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses
Scotland: https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/
Wales: https://gov.wales/business-and-employers-coronavirus
Northern Ireland: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/

I will be trying to keep myself as informed as possible and will share relevant information on my fb business page: https://www.facebook.com/ihelmenterprises/

I have been reading through all of the updates from the Government in regards to the SEISS grant and they have released further details about the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme in regards to how it will work for the second payment.

You do not need to have received the first grant in order to take advantage of the second grant, but if you do want to receive the initial grant amount which is based on 80% of your average monthly trading profits (capped at £7,500 in total), you have until 13/07/2020 to do so. The first payment will no longer be available after 13/07/2020.

You will be able to claim for the second amount in August 2020 and you must confirm that your business has been “adversely affected” on or after 14/07/2020. HMRC have provided some examples of what they mean by “adversely affected”:
– you aren’t able to work because you are shielding, self-isolating, are on sick leave due to coronavirus or have caring responsibilities due to coronavirus
– you have had to scale your business down or temporarily stop trading because your supply chain has been interrupted, you have fewer, or no, customers/clients or your staff are unable to come into work.

You will also still need to meet the criteria for the first grant:
– traded in 2018/2019 tax year and submitted your self-assessment tax return on or before 23/04/2020
– traded in the 2019/2020 tax year
– intend to continue to trade in the 2020/2021 tax year

The second payment will be 70% of your average monthly trading profits and will be paid out in a single instalment covering a further 3 months’ worth of profits. It will be capped at £6,570 in total.

At this point in time, HMRC have not given any indication that they will be using a different time period to calculate the amount you are entitled to. It is my understanding that they will still only be looking at the tax returns for 2018/2019, 2017/2018 and 2016/2017 and will calculate the average monthly amount using the exact same method as the first grant – the only difference being it will only be for 70% this time. If HMRC indicate differently, I will update the information and post about it.

The portal for checking eligibility for the second grant doesn’t exist yet as the first grant hasn’t closed. As soon as it is open for people to check their eligibility I will share the link to do so.

HMRC have been updating the various articles they have on SEISS to include information about the second grant and you can read those pages here:
Check if you can claim: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme
How different circumstances affect the grant: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-different-circumstances-affect-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme

I am continually monitoring the updates that the government and other business-related departments release and will continue to share that information for as long as I feel that it is beneficial to all businesses in the UK.

The information and policies are continually being updated by the government, so I urge you to keep on top of the information by visiting the relevant website for your area.

UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses
Scotland: https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/
Wales: https://gov.wales/business-and-employers-coronavirus
Northern Ireland: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/

I will be trying to keep myself as informed as possible and will share relevant information on my fb business page: https://www.facebook.com/ihelmenterprises/

On May 29th, the Chancellor announced the details about the extension to the Job Retention Scheme. The extension won’t work the same as the scheme does now as employers will be able to bring staff back part-time and furlough them the rest of the time and employers will have to start making some contributions as well.

The scheme will close to new entrants on June 30th, which means that if employers want to take advantage of being able to furlough staff part-time, they need to make a claim by June 10th, 2020 on the current scheme (this allows staff to be furloughed for the minimum 3-week period). From July 1st, 2020, only employees who have been furloughed for a full 3-week period prior to June 30th, 2020 will be able to be furloughed part-time. However, employers will have until July 31st, 2020 to make any claims relating to the time period ending June 30th, 2020. All other existing criteria will still be in place.

From July 1st, 2020, employers will be able to bring staff back into the workplace on a part-time basis. Employers will be able to set the hours and shift patterns of those staff members, but employers will be responsible for paying all of the payroll costs towards those hours/days that staff work, and the government will pay for the remaining hours/days in the month that the staff have been furloughed.

In respect of the changes to the funding of the scheme, this is how the division will be from July 1st, 2020:

July 2020: The government will continue to pay 80% of wages up to £2,500 plus Employer NI contributions and pension contributions for staff who are furloughed. Employers will be responsible for ONLY paying payroll costs for the time an employee has worked.

August 2020: The government will pay 80% of wages up to £2,500 for staff who are furloughed. Employers will be responsible for paying Employer NI contributions, pension contributions, and all payroll costs for the time an employee worked.

September 2020: The government will pay 70% of wages up to £2,187.50 for staff who are furloughed. Employers will be responsible for paying Employer NI contributions, pension contributions, all payroll costs for the time an employee worked AND 10% of the furloughed wages which will ensure staff are still receiving 80% of their wages when furloughed.

October 2020: The government will pay 60% of wages up to £1,875 for staff who are furloughed. Employers will be responsible for paying Employer NI contributions, pension contributions, all payroll costs for the time an employee worked AND 20% of the furloughed wages which will ensure staff are still receiving 80% of their wages when furloughed.

Employers will need to submit the usual hours an employee would be expected to work in a claim period and the actual hours they have worked.

At present, the information on how to submit a claim through the Job Retention Scheme hasn’t been changed, but I will be continuing to monitor the situation and will share further information as it is released.

The government have stated that after October 31st, 2020, the Job Retention Scheme will be stopped and from November 1st, 2020 employers will be responsible for ALL of the payroll costs associated with having employees.

I am continually monitoring the updates that the government and other business-related departments release and will continue to share that information for as long as I feel that it is beneficial to all businesses in the UK.

The information and policies are continually being updated by the government, so I urge you to keep on top of the information by visiting the relevant website for your area.

UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses
Scotland: https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/
Wales: https://gov.wales/business-and-employers-coronavirus
Northern Ireland: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/

I will be trying to keep myself as informed as possible and will share relevant information on my fb business page: https://www.facebook.com/ihelmenterprises/

Many people have been waiting anxiously for further information on the Job Retention Scheme and to see if the Chancellor was going to extend the Self-employed Income Support Scheme. Today the Chancellor has made the following announcements.

1) Job Retention Scheme

In June and July 2020, the JRS will stay as it is – there will be no changes in how much the government contributes and how much the employer contributes.

In August 2020 the government will continue to pay the 80% of wages, but employers will be asked to pay the NI contributions and the Pension Contributions.

In September 2020 the government will pay 70% of the wages up to a maximum of £2,190 and employers will be asked to contribute 10% of the wages to ensure that employees are still receiving 80% of their wages, as well as the NI Contributions and Pension Contributions.

In October 2020 the government will pay 60% of the wages up to a maximum of £1,875 and employers will be asked to contribute 20% of the wages to ensure that employees are still receiving 80% of their wages, as well as the NI Contributions and Pension Contributions.

After October 2020, there will be no more JRS and employers will need to pay all of the payroll costs associated with having staff.

There will be a change to the scheme from July 1st, which will allow employers to bring staff back into the workplace on a parttime basis. Employers will be able to set the hours and shift patterns of those staff, but employers will pay all of the payroll costs towards those hours/days that staff work and the government will pay for the remaining hours/days in the month that the staff have been furloughed.

In order to allow the change from the current set up to the flexible scheme, employers will need to make their final JRS claim in its current format by 10/06/2020, to allow the employees to be furloughed for the minimum 3 week period, so that from July 1st, 2020 they can start to work in the business parttime.

2) Self-employed Income Support Scheme

The government will be opening up the scheme to applications in August for one final payment. To bring it in line with the JRS scheme, the government will only be paying 70% of the turnover for the three month period, up to a maximum of £6,570 (£2,190/month).

This will be the final extension to the SEISS grant – and there will not be any further payments made to self-employed businesses after August, in regards to this scheme.

As more information is released on either of these schemes, I will write further blog posts and share that information across social media and with my clients.

I am continually monitoring the updates that the government and other business-related departments release and will continue to share that information for as long as I feel that it is beneficial to all businesses in the UK.

The information and policies are continually being updated by the government, so I urge you to keep on top of the information by visiting the relevant website for your area.

UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses
Scotland: https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/
Wales: https://gov.wales/business-and-employers-coronavirus
Northern Ireland: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/

I will be trying to keep myself as informed as possible and will share relevant information on my fb business page: https://www.facebook.com/ihelmenterprises/

The government has provided further clarification on a couple of different items over the last couple of days.

1) Job Retention Scheme

The government has updated the guidance in regards to who is eligible for the Job Retention Scheme in regards to the date an employee was with their employer. There is now a chart on the guidance: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-which-employees-you-can-put-on-furlough-to-use-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme that shows the date an employee was on an employer’s payroll, when the date of the RTI submission was, and whether they are eligible or not. The table is under the section “Employees you can claim for”.

They have also updated this guidance: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-80-of-your-employees-wages-to-claim-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme to explain what functions can be tested on the calculator when trying to check the amount you can claim. Employers are now able to claim for employees who have received top-ups or discretionary payments while they have been furloughed. The government has also made it clear that the amount claimed for NICs cannot be more than 13.8% of the grant claimed for wages.

2) The new Discretionary Fund Grant that Local Authorities are able to issue

It has also been announced that the new Discretionary Fund Grant that recently went live, is now able to be claimed by those who were eligible for the Self-Employed Income Scheme payment. Up until today, those who had received the SEISS grant were not eligible, but that information has now been changed to state that anyone who has received the SEISS grant, is eligible to receive assistance through the Discretionary Fund Grant. This has been clarified in Section 29 and 31 of Version 2: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/887239/Local_Authority_Discretionary_Grants_Fund_-_guidance_for_local_authorities_-_version_2.pdf

I am continually monitoring the updates that the government and other business-related departments release and will continue to share that information for as long as I feel that it is beneficial to all businesses in the UK.

The information and policies are continually being updated by the government, so I urge you to keep on top of the information by visiting the relevant website for your area.

UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses
Scotland: https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/
Wales: https://gov.wales/business-and-employers-coronavirus
Northern Ireland: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/

I will be trying to keep myself as informed as possible and will share relevant information on my fb business page: https://www.facebook.com/ihelmenterprises/

The Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme is finally set to be open from May 26th, 2020!

This scheme allows small- and medium-sized businesses, with fewer than 250 employees, to be able to recover the costs of paying statutory sick pay for coronavirus-related illnesses. They will be able to claim for the funding for eligible periods of sickness from 13/03/2020.

There are guidelines about what you need to keep in order to make this claim – dates when the employee was sick, which dates are qualifying days, the reason they were off work and the employees NI number. You must keep all of these records for 3 years after you receive the payment for your claim. You can read more about how to check whether you are eligible here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-back-statutory-sick-pay-paid-to-employees-due-to-coronavirus-covid-19

The scheme will cover 2 weeks of SSP at a rate of £95.85/week and it covers all types of employment contracts: full-time, part-time, agency contracts, flexible and zero-hour contracts.

There is more information in the news briefing here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/coronavirus-statutory-sick-pay-rebate-scheme-set-to-launch

I am continually monitoring the updates that the government and other business-related departments release and will continue to share that information for as long as I feel that it is beneficial to all businesses in the UK.

The information and policies are continually being updated by the government, so I urge you to keep on top of the information by visiting the relevant website for your area.

UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses
Scotland: https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/
Wales: https://gov.wales/business-and-employers-coronavirus
Northern Ireland: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/

I will be trying to keep myself as informed as possible and will share relevant information on my fb business page: https://www.facebook.com/ihelmenterprises/

Yesterday, the government published the guidance for the Local Authority Discretionary Grant Fund – this is the information the government provided to LAs. This funding is for those businesses who do not meet the criteria for other grants that have been provided like: Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Small Business Rate Relief Grant, Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant – there are further grants listed within the document. Local Authorities will be able to issue grants for £10,000, £25,000 or any value under £10,000 and it will be up to the LA to decide how much they give to a business.

Businesses that this grant is designed to help are those small and micro businesses (as defined in Section 33 Part 2 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 and Companies Act 2006), those with relatively high ongoing fixed property-related costs, businesses that are able to demonstrate they have suffered a significant fall in income due to Covid-19, and businesses which occupy property, or part of a property, with a rateable value/annual rent or annual mortgage payments below £51,000. The government has asked Local Authorities to prioritise businesses in shared offices or flexible working spaces, regular market traders with fixed building costs, bed and breakfasts that pay Council Tax instead of business rates, and charity properties that receive charitable business rates relief. The business must have been trading on 11/03/2020 in order to be eligible.

This is a taxable grant, the money does not need to be paid back but it does need to be declared on your accounts and your tax return as income.

It doesn’t state how you apply for this grant, but as it is provided through the Local Authorities, I expect you need to contact your LA and ask them how you apply.

The full document can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/885011/local-authority-discretionary-grants-fund-guidance-local-government.pdf

It was also announced yesterday by John Glenn (the Economic Secretary to the Treasury) that businesses with supply chains which rely on Trade Credit Insurance and are struggling to ensure they are able to maintain their insurance cover, will get help from the government. The government will temporarily guarantee business-to-business transactions currently supported by Trade Credit Insurance which will help businesses to keep their supply chains moving. The full article can be read here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-support-businesses-through-trade-credit-insurance-guarantee

I am continually monitoring the updates that the government and other business-related departments release and will continue to share that information for as long as I feel that it is beneficial to all businesses in the UK.

The information and policies are continually being updated by the government, so I urge you to keep on top of the information by visiting the relevant website for your area.

UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses
Scotland: https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/
Wales: https://gov.wales/business-and-employers-coronavirus
Northern Ireland: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/

I will be trying to keep myself as informed as possible and will share relevant information on my fb business page: https://www.facebook.com/ihelmenterprises/