Here are some of the unpreceded support that has been put in place to help businesses through Corona virus.
Business Interruption Loan Scheme
Delivered by the British Business Bank, so any businesses with less than a turnover of 41 Million can apply for a loan of up to £5 Million, the government will cover up to 80% of any losses and there are no fees, no interest for the first 12 months and that’s going to unlock around a billion pounds to protect smaller businesses.
Small Business Grant Schemes.
The Government will provide an additional £2.2 billion funding for local authorities to support small businesses that already pay little or no Business Rates because of Small Business Rate Relief (SBBR).
This will provide a one-off grant of £10,000 to around 700,000 business currently eligible for SBRR or Rural Rate Relief, to help meet their ongoing business costs. For a property with a rateable value of £12,000, this is one quarter of their rateable value, or comparable to 3 months of rent.
Employees
The government will pay 80% of salary for staff who are laid off due to not having any work for them but are kept on by their employer, covering wage payments of up to a maximum of £2,500 a month.
Statutory Sick Pay
For businesses with fewer than 250 employees there’s also some support around the provision of statutory sick pay, so up to 14 days of statutory sick pay will be refunded by the government.
Retail
A cash grant of £25,000 will be made available to businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. These are likely to be made available through the local authority
HMRC
HMRC has a set up a phone helpline to support businesses and self-employed people concerned about not being able to pay their tax due to coronavirus (COVID-19).
The helpline allows any business or self-employed individual who is concerned about paying their tax due to coronavirus to get practical help and advice. Up to 2,000 experienced call handlers are available to support businesses and individuals when needed.
If you run a business or are self-employed and are concerned about paying your tax due to coronavirus, you can call
HMRC’s helpline for help and advice: 0800 0159 559.
For those who are unable to pay due to coronavirus, HMRC will discuss your specific circumstances to explore:
Agreeing an instalment arrangement suspending debt collection proceedings cancelling penalties and interest where you have administrative difficulties contacting or paying HMRC immediately.
The helpline number is 0800 0159 559 – and is an addition to other HMRC phone contact numbers.
On top of that:
Corporation tax set to remain at 19% for 2020.
Structures and Buildings Allowance (SBA) increased to 3%. Further improvements to the R&D tax credits regime, by increasing the Research & Development Expenditure Credit from 12% to 13%.
Employment Allowance to increase to £4,000.
£10m invested in the country’s 38 Growth Hubs to further help businesses.
Tapered allowance threshold for pensions tax relief will increase to £200,000.
Next VAT payments by companies deferred until the end of 2020.
Private Sector
There are other resources, from private sector and the banks, Lloyds have committed £2 billion in funds to their clients, NatWest have committed £5 Billion, you also have support from the likes of the Chamber of Commerce, business groups, forums and local enterprise partnerships.
Personal Finances
Also on a personal finance level, you can look into requesting a payment holiday for your mortgage and other costs such as credit cards with no penalty fees.
My advice is to reach out if you’re having difficulties, to recognise that you’re absolutely not the only one, this is something that we need to work through together as a collective.
It is something that is going to be with us for the coming months but with he right strategy and right approach, we can absolutely come out of this bigger better and brighter than before.
Just reach out if you need anything
By Alan Adams
