Update on HMRC Coronavirus Helpline
HMRC has updated the information on it’s coronavirus helpline for businesses and self-employed people in financial distress that want to apply for support through HMRC’s Time to Pay service – for full information click HERE.
Companies House support for businesses hit by COVID19
Businesses will be given additional support to help them meet their legal responsibilities. Companies House will temporarily pause the strike off process to prevent companies being dissolved. This will give businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak the time they need to update their records and help them avoid being struck off the register. In addition, companies issued with a late filing penalty due to COVID19 will have appeals treated sympathetically. More information can be found HERE.
Minister for Small Business is working on a solution for the Self-Employed
Paul Scully MP, is looking to find a mechanism to support self-employed people working as a registered business. Currently, people in this situation are not eligible for self-employment support and, although they could furlough themselves, would generally only receive £132.80 by doing so and would not be able to do any work. If you are self-employed and have not benefitted from a grant and would like to support his initiative his email address is paul.scully.mp@parliament.uk – More information HERE.
Retail Sector
We have a good few members in the Retail Sector. Click HERE to read a letter from the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Alok Sharma, to the UK’s retail workers.
Furlough eligibility cut-off date extended to 19 March
The eligibility cut-off date for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (Furlough scheme) has been extended from 28 February to 19 March. Employers are now able to claim for furloughed employees that were employed and on their PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020. This means that the employee must have been notified to HMRC through an RTI submission on or before this date. The scheme is due to be fully operational next week.
If you made employees redundant, or they stopped working for you on or after 28 February 2020, you can re-employ them, put them on furlough and claim for their wages through the scheme. This applies to employees that were made redundant or stopped working for you after 28 February, even if you do not re-employ them until after 19 March. Read more about the eligibility extension and how to claim support through the scheme HERE.
Self-employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) guidance updates
The Self-employment Income Support Scheme guidance has been updated to provide clarifications on some of the areas that were unclear, including:
• Detail of the treatment of losses, averaging and multiple trades
• Clarifications on the calculation of self-employed profits and what is meant by total income
• Confirmation that individuals can continue working, including taking on an employment role
• Confirmation that owner-managers of Ltd companies can access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) for their salary
• Confirmation that individuals can access Universal Credit and the SEISS
• Clarification on overlaps between the SEISS and CJRS (e.g. you can claim the SEISS and continue working).
Further information can be found on how to claim a grant HERE and how HRMC works out total income and trading profits for SEISS scheme HERE