Coronavirus Support Update – 30 May 2020

Hope you are enjoying the good weather and this finds you all safe, well and reasonably sane at this time.

Please find below an update on the key Coronavirus Support Schemes, including Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, Job Retention Scheme (or Furlough Scheme), Statutory Sick Pay and Top-Up Grants.

In case of interest, we have published one new blog, which might be of interest to you:

• HMRC and Bitcoin: All You Need To Know.

There are also a few more which we have published over the last few weeks:

• What Legal Documents Do I Need For My Business?;
• What is next? U, V, or L shaped UK recession?;
• Dying Without a Will – The Rules of Intestacy; and
• 4 Tips To Successful SME Cash Flow Management.

The Big Shave happened this week and you can find more details, including a video below…

We will continue to keep you updated as more information about the existing support packages, or any new packages become available here and across our blogs and social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter).

Please be reassured, especially at this time, that we are here to help you and we want to help you in any way we can. Whilst we are all remote working, it is very much business as usual. Our thoughts are with you and yours.

Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS)

Last night, the Chancellor announced that the SEISS will be extended for eligible self-employed individuals whose trade is impacted by the coronavirus crisis (‘second SEISS grant’). A second and final grant will be available in August, with a taxable grant worth 70% of your average monthly trading profits for three months, paid out in a single installment capped at £6,570. The eligibility criteria are otherwise the same as before. You don’t have to claim the first grant to claim the second.

This is great news and brings this into line with the Job Retention Scheme. Also, this will hopefully help lockdown rules be maintained as much as possible during the transition to the new normal.

Claims for the first SEISS grant, which opened on 13 May, must be made no later than 13 July, so if you are eligible, please make sure you claim. So far, over 2.3 million claims worth £6.8 billion have been made under this first grant. You will still have to do the application yourself and we expect the application process to be identical to before. More information on the second SEISS grant will be available on 12 June.

Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)

The Chancellor also announced several changes here, as expected. From 1 July 2020, the scheme will be made more flexible to enable employers to bring previously furloughed employees back part time and still receive a grant for the time when they are not working (AKA ‘Flexible Furlough’). This is a month earlier than previously announced to help people get back to work, in line with the lightening of lockdown. Employers will decide the hours and shift patterns their employees will work on their return and will be responsible for paying their wages in full while working. This means that employees can work as much or as little as the business needs, with no minimum time that they can furlough staff for.

Any working hours arrangement agreed between a business and their employee must cover at least one week and be confirmed to the employee, in writing. When claiming the CJRS grant for furloughed hours, they will need to report and claim for a minimum period of a week. They can choose to make claims for longer periods such as on a monthly or two weekly cycle, depending what is best for them.

If, however, employees are unable to return to work, or employers do not have work for them to do, they can remain on furlough and the employer can continue to claim the grant for their full hours under the existing rules.

From 1 August 2020, employers will have to start contributing to the wage costs of paying their furloughed staff and this employer contribution will gradually increase in September and October. i.e.,

In June and July:

• The government will pay 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500 as well as employer National Insurance (ER NICs) and pension contributions for the hours the employee doesn’t work; and
• Employers will have to pay employees for the hours they work.

In August:

• The government will continue to pay 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500; and
• Employers will pay ER NICs and pension contributions (~5% of the gross employment costs)

In September:

• The government will pay 70% of wages up to a cap of £2,187.50 for the hours the employee does not work; and
• Employers will pay ER NICs, pension contributions and 10% of wages to make up 80% of the total up to a cap of £2,500.

The scheme will close to new entrants from 30 June. What that means is from this point onwards, employers will only be able to furlough employees that they have furloughed for a full three-week period prior to 30 June. The 10 June will therefore be the final date by which an employer can furlough an employee for the first time, in order for a three-week furlough period to be completed by 30 June.

Whilst not simple, the logic does make sense; the Government are trying to balance supporting those who are unable to work and maintaining lockdown guidance as much as possible but phasing out these support schemes which are incredibly expensive. Whether it will work or not, is another question and only time will tell.

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)

The Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme went live this week. Under this, eligible employers can claim repayment up to two weeks of Statutory Sick Pay, starting form the first qualifying day of sickness, if an employee is unable to work because they:

• Have coronavirus symptoms;
• Are self-isolating because someone they live with has symptoms;
• Are self-isolating because they’ve been notified by the NHS or public health bodies that they’ve come into contact with someone with coronavirus; and/or
• are shielding and have a letter from the NHS or a GP telling them to stay at home for at least 12 weeks.

You can claim from the first qualifying day your employee is off work, if the period of sickness started on or after:

• 13 March 2020 – if your employee had coronavirus or the symptoms or is self-isolating because someone they live with has symptoms;
• 16 April 2020 – if your employee was shielding because of coronavirus; or
• 28 May 2020 – if your employee has been notified by the NHS or public health bodies that they’ve come into contact with someone with coronavirus.

You must have paid the employee’s sick pay before you can claim it back. You can make the application online or we can do it for you on your behalf (if we are your agents). Alternatively, there will be other ways to apply but this is to be confirmed.

Top-Up Grant

Whilst many have benefited from a taxable grant of £10,000 for businesses who received small business rate relief or rural rate relief, or £25,000 for those in the retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with property with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000, many have been left behind. And the Government’s answer to this is the Top-up or Discretionary Fund. This might be for you if you:

• Have a rateable value of £15,000 or more and are not in the Retail, Hospitality or Leisure sector;
• Use shared spaces;
• Are a regular market trader;
• Small charity; or
• Bed and Breakfast (who pays council tax).

The Government released more detail of their plans to Local Authorities two weeks ago, so many are now live or going live this week. For example, Basingstoke and Deane launched theirs last week and Runnymede are launching theirs next week. However, one thing which is consistent is there is a very small window (one or two weeks) to make an application, so we suggest if this could be you that you contact your local authority ASAP and check their website for any updates.

Grants of £25,000, £10,000 or less than £10,000 can be granted based on the impact from coronavirus, but it is at the local authority’s discretion. If this could be you, we recommend that you get in touch with your local authority as early as possible to improve your chances of getting funding, especially as it is a discretionary fund and will run out soon.

The Big Shave

As a bit of fun at this most difficult of times, last Monday we did the Big Shave Challenge. More details can be found on our Virgin Giving Page.

You can view the video here, for your enjoyment and our humiliation, but all of course for a great cause; east to west are the amazing local charity.

Thank you very much to everyone who has already donated and if you have any other ideas of charity challenges you would like to see us doing, please email us.

Enjoy!

Scam Warning

We are seeing record numbers of scams and phishing emails as fraudsters attempt to get your personal details at this difficult time. Please be even more vigilant than normal, especially at this time. More information about spotting and reporting scams and phishing can be found here.

Black and White Accounting

This is a difficult time for everyone and we must come together to get through this. Our thoughts are with you, your family and your friends especially at this time.

If there is anything we can do to help you at this difficult time, please do get in touch by contacting Black and White Chartered Certified Accountants, populate the “Got a Question” form on the right, or call us on 0800 140 4644.