Coronavirus – an update
Following on from the Budget last week, you may have seen that the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, extended and increased the package of measures to provide support for public services, individuals and businesses to ensure the impact is minimised.
The new announcement pledged £330 Billion of support to businesses to help them through the most difficult trading times caused by the virus.
A summary of the changes are as follows:
Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)
- Loans of up to £5m (an increase from £1.2m in last week’s Budget)
- Allows interest holidays for 6 months
- Available to all businesses with a turnover not exceeding £41m, and in an eligible industrial sector https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Ineligible-and-Restricted-Eligibility-Sector-2017.pdf
- Be UK based
- Have a sound borrowing proposal, but insufficient security to meet a lender’s normal requirements
Grants
- Government to provide for an additional £2.2b funding for local authorities meaning that for businesses that pay little or no Business Rates because of Small Business Rates Relief will be provided with a one-off Grant of £10,000 (previously £3k in the Budget)
- 100% Business Rate Relief for 12 months extended to all businesses within the leisure, hospitality or retail sector (regardless of size)
- Companies with a rateable value of less than £51k will be eligible for a cash grant of up to £25,000 (further details to follow on this point)
Proposals to Individuals
- The Chancellor has further announced that in addition to the above support measures for businesses, individuals (households) facing financial difficulties due to Covid-19 will be supported by their lending institutions with at least a 3-month mortgage payments holiday.
Measures unchanged so far from the budget:
- For businesses with fewer than 250 employees, the cost of providing 14 days of statutory sick pay per employee will be refunded by the government in full.
- A dedicated helpline has been set up to help businesses and self-employed individuals in financial distress and with outstanding tax liabilities (VAT, Corporation Tax, CIS Payments and Self Assessment) receive support with their tax affairs.
- Through this, businesses may be able to agree a bespoke Time to Pay arrangement. If you are concerned about being able to pay your tax due to COVID-19, call HMRC’s dedicated helpline on 0800 0159 559.
If you have any questions on the above please do not hesitate to contact us today.
