Navigating the crisis
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and associated shutdown has significantly affected many businesses.
We know you may be suffering in terms of cash flow and face enormous uncertainty about the future for your business.
We will do all we can to help you.
In this newsletter we have brought together what you need to know about the Government help available for small businesses.
HMRC is automatically deferring the next VAT and Income Tax bills, and it will agree extra time for you to pay Corporation Tax and PAYE, but those terms need to be negotiated individually.
Unfortunately, it takes time to set up new systems to provide cash injections directly into businesses, but there are Government grants on their way to the self employed and employers to cover 80% of profits or wages.
We explain who will qualify for these grants.
A large number of businesses will have their Business Rates bill for 2020/21 wiped out, and smaller businesses will be eligible for cash grants of £10,000 or £25,000 from their local authority.
Don’t be caught out by scammers, as all the Government grant money will come through either HMRC or the local authority you pay business rates to. Those organisations will not use email, text messages or phone calls to contact you so don’t click on links in any unsolicited communications.
If you are renting your home or business premises and are having difficulty in paying your rent, you should speak to your landlord. The law has been changed to require the landlord to give you at least three months notice to leave the property.
All current court proceedings concerning evictions have been paused.
If you are worried that your business has more outgoings than sales and is heading for bust, any of these measures may be able to help you.
The Government has temporarily changed the rules on wrongful trading to allow companies to pay staff and suppliers even if the directors fear this could mean the company is made insolvent.
Your creditors will not be able to force your business into administration or liquidation for a temporary period during the pandemic.
To access or read our current Coronavirus Business Support Guide in full, please click here (earlier versions of the guide are also available below).
Topics covered include:
- Grants for employers to cover salaries
- Grants for the Self employed
- Deferral of Income Tax
- Deferral of VAT
- Sick pay support for employers
- More time to pay taxes
- Business Rates holiday
- Grants based on rateable values
- Loans for businesses
- Protection for tenants
- Cancelling your VAT registration
- Claiming Universal Credit
- Business rates and grants: Regional variations
We also publish links to new information or guides as we become aware of them on our Coronavirus (COVID-19) business updates page here. The easiest way to stay up to date with our updates is by following us on Twitter or Facebook
Should you require them for reference, previous versions of our Coronavirus Business Support Guide can be accessed below: