COVID-19 Support - We're Here to Help

At FUSE, our number one priority is supporting our clients and staff at this challenging time during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are committed to providing the same high standard of service, as well as up to date advice on financial measures in place to support individuals and businesses during these unprecedented times. We are doing everything we can to keep business as usual, and to protect our clients and colleagues we have implemented some additional measures. Our policy can be found here.  We are actively and regularly sifting through the ongoing news and documentation being provided by the Government to ensure we give our clients the best advice and relevant information, and for more detailed information you can see our Coronavirus Update page here.

Below are some of the key points that may be relevant for you;

You and your business

Key measures to date include:
 
Support for tax payments – If the impact of COVID-19 has affected your cashflow and you are struggling to make your upcoming tax payments, HMRC have announced that these can be deferred for a period, or the tax payments spread over a period of time. This does need to be arranged with HMRC by calling their helpline on 0800 0159 559. Even though HMRC have put additional resources on this line we are aware that the lines are still very busy and you may have a short wait.  You will see below further specific measures for VAT and the July 2020 income tax payment on account.

Income Tax Payment on Account Deferral - HMRC will automatically defer the 31 July 2020 Self-Assessment second payment on account, which means that you do not need to pay this. This is automatic and does not need to be applied for, and no interest or penalties will be charged. The payment will instead be due on 31 January 2021, together with any balancing payment, and the first payment on account for the following year. We recommend that wherever you can you keep funds aside so that you do not fall short in January 2021.

VAT Deferral - If you are a UK VAT registered business and have a VAT payment due between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020, this can be deferred for a period up to 31 March 2021, without any penalties. This will effectively cover VAT Returns to February, March and April 2020, and you will need to submit your VAT Return as usual. No action is required to defer the payment unless you have a direct debit in place, which you will need to cancel if you do want to defer the payment.

Relief for employers – The Government have extended the statutory sick pay (SSP) regulations so that employees that are required to self-isolate and cannot work are able to get SSP from the first day they are off. Employers are able to claim back SSP paid to employees from HMRC through their payroll.

Relief for business rates – HMRC have announced that cash grants of £25,000 are available for hospitality, retail and leisure businesses with business premises with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000, as well as a £10,000 for all small businesses with a rateable value up to £15,000. This will be issued through local authorities who should be in touch with the relevant businesses and we expect this to start in early April. In addition, there is a 12 month business rates holiday for all hospitality, retail and leisure businesses in England. 

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) - The Government have announced a loan scheme, provided by the British Business Bank through participating providers, which should become available from next week and you can read more about this scheme here. This will provide many opportunities to borrow and take finance whilst having difficulties with cashflow.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme - The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is intended to help employers fund the wages of staff that they have had to furlough (put on a leave of absence), to run for a period of up to at least three months starting from 1 March 2020.  It will be available to all employers provided the employee was on the payroll at 28 February 2020. The scheme will enable employers to claim 80% of the furloughed employees’ usual monthly wages costs, up to a maximum of £2,500, plus the employers National Insurance and minimum employer pension contributions. The claim will be made to HMRC through an online service, which is not currently available but which HMRC hope to have up and running by the end of April. You can read more here.

Self-employment Income Support Scheme - The Self-employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) has been launched to support those who are self-employed and who have lost income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme will also apply to individual partners of partnerships. The scheme will allow many self-employed individuals with profits up to £50,000 to claim a taxable grant covering 80% of their trading profit up to the maximum value of £2,500 per month for the next three months, based on their 2018/19 and earlier Tax Returns, where applicable. There are several conditions attached and you can read more detail here.

IR35 - HMRC have postponed the recent off-payroll IR35 regulations for the private sector until 6 April 2021, which is great news for company contractors.

Interest rate cut - The Bank of England recently reduced interest rates from 0.75% to 0.25%, and then further to 0.1%.

Mortgage payment holiday - The Government have announced an incentive to help with mortgage payments by encouraging lenders to give a three month payment holiday and you can speak directly to your lender for some guidance on this. They are also putting in legislation to suspend new evictions from social or private rented accommodation.

The Government have issued lots of useful information and we suggest referring to this page for more detailed guidance for employers and businesses.

We will host webinars and live calls to help explain the impact of the Government’s current  financial measures and the first of these Q&A sessions will take place at 10am Friday 20th March. You can sign up to our FUSE Live Q&A session and we will go through these changes in more detail. In the meantime, if you would like any further information or other personal support, please do contact us.

If you are looking for HR support and don’t have an HR specialist we would recommend going to the ACAS website in the first instance, and you can follow this link to their Coronavirus page. Although we are not able to advise on specific HR matters, we can help to point you in the right direction and if you would like more tailored support we are able to put you in touch with our outsourced HR providers.

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FUSE is an independent Chartered Certified firm of accountants and tax advisors based in Highgate Village, North London. We provide a dynamic range of services to clients working in property, media, entertainment and professional services. Our clients vary in size from self employed sole traders, small enterprises and medium size businesses. We believe that comprehensive financial planning and sound business financial advice are the keys to growth and profitability.