Coronavirus Support Update – 10 May 2020

Tonight’s announcement by Boris Johnson unveiled a ‘conditional plan’ to re-open society, but one thing’s for sure, the opening up of lockdown will be more complex and drawn out than the introduction was.

Please find below an update on the key Coronavirus Support Schemes, including updates on Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS), new Discretionary Fund for Rate Grants, Bounce Back Loans and the Big Shave *Coming Soon*.

In case of interest, if you are thinking of doing a Coronavirus Clear-out, or Furlough Freshen-up, please see our blog to help you know how long you need to keep records for.

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

Don’t forget, here are three great resources to help navigate your way through all the different Coronavirus Support Schemes:

• Fill out an online questionnaire and find out what Coronavirus Support Schemes you may be eligible for: you might be eligible for;
• Not sure if you could be entitled to any benefits under Universal Credit, during the Coronavirus? A great place to start is entitledto to go through what help might be available to you. Whilst there are other similar resources, this is the one we have found the most helpful for clients; and
• Please contact us. You can even schedule a Phone or Zoom call directly with Jon, simply by clicking on the relevant link. This link can also be found on Jon’s email signature. In particular, if for example, you are not sure if CBBLS or CBILS are for you (more below), it would be good to talk this through and potentially involve one of our Strategic Partners in the discussion to ensure you get the best support you can.

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.

Changes to Lockdown Rules

The big announcement for business tonight was people who could not work from home could return to the workplace, but avoid public transport, as much as possible, preferring walking and cycling. Whilst detail is short at this stage, it is likely this will mean many tradespeople and workers can return to work, as long as social distancing can be maintained. More detail is expected to be announced later today, once it has been debated in Parliament. Here are the key messages:

1. Stay home whenever possible;
2. Work from home if you can;
3. Avoid public transport, if possible;
4. Take unlimited exercise outside;
5. Enjoy parks and public spaces without exercising; and
6. Always keep your distance in public.

The new COVID Alert System, with five risk levels, was announced, to help us understand how quickly lockdown restrictions could be eased, which could help manage expectations and help us plan more going forward in the hope things can return to a new normal in the next two months or so. However, this is subject to constant review and if we need to return to stricter lockdown to avoid a second peak of coronavirus, this will take place. Some suggestions of next steps included:

• Some primary school students returning to school at the earliest by 1 June; and
• Some hospitality businesses and other public places reopening by 1 July.

Fines for those who break lowdown rules will also increase, although the mantra appears to have changed from “Stay Home, Save Lives” to “Stay Alert and Stay Home as much as possible”.

Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS)

From Monday 4^th May, HMRC started contacting taxpayers who may be eligible for the government’s Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS). As a re-cap here, you can claim a taxable grant of 80% of your average monthly trading profit, paid out as a single instalment covering three months (capped at £7,500) if you:

• Were self-employment and submitted tax returns for 2018/19, which was filed on or before 23 April 2020;
• Had trading profits worth up to £50,000, with the majority of income was from self-employment;
• You intended to continue to trade in 2020/21; and
• You carry out a trade which has been adversely affected by Coronavirus (although you can continue to work during this time).

Applications will be open from 13^th May, with payment within six working days of that. However, if this is you, you will have to do this through your own Government Gateway account rather than through our agency account. We have been informed by HMRC and our regulators that we cannot do this on your behalf as it would constitute fraud and there would be significant consequences. It is believed that HMRC has built this process through your individual Government Gateway account rather than through agent accounts simply due to the time it takes; the agency functionality would have taken potentially another two months to build and ultimately time is of the essence to get this support to you.

Next steps:

1) You can use HMRC’s checker to see if you are eligible. To do so, you will need:

• Your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) – this is a ten-digit number which can be found on the top right-hand corner of your personal tax documents we send to you each year, if we do your personal tax return (or on the left-hand side at the top of the tax return), or on any letter from HMRC; and
• Your National Insurance number (NINO) – if you have lost this, follow this link; and

Once you have checked your eligibility, you will have the opportunity to either login to your Government Gateway account, or if you don’t have one, to create one. If you create one HMRC will have to send you a code and this will take up to seven working days.

Please note we do not have your personal Government Gateway account; we only have access to our agency account.

2) a) If it says you are eligible:

• It will tell you the date you’ll be able to make a claim from and ask for your contact details (this starts from 13 May 2020). Everyone will be given a slot in which to make their application to reduce the chances of the systems being unable to cope with so many applications.
• They will then contact you using these details to remind you when this is available, although we would diarise this yourself in any case.
• To make the claim you will also need the bank account and sort code you want the grant paid into, as well as your UTR, NINO and Government Gateway login.
• Payments should be received by 25 May, or within six working days of completing the claim.

2) b) If it says you are not eligible:

• You can ask HMRC to review this after you’ve used the online tool. We have already come up with a couple of instances where HMRC had the wrong details on file. This is likely to delay your receipt of it.

If you are going to struggle with this process, HMRC is building a telephone helpline where you are likely to be able to apply through. However, this will take a bit longer to put in place, so is likely to delay your receipt of it too.

The usual record-keeping rules apply here, which are detailed further here.

Discretionary Fund for Rate Grants

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 here.

Fresh off the press on Saturday afternoon, a discretionary fund has been set up to help accommodate small businesses (i.e., less than 50 employees) previously outside the business grant funds scheme, who have ongoing fixed property-related costs. For example, 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).

However, this is provided as guidance and it is down to local authorities’ discretion how they distribute it, based on local economic need. Grants of:

• £25,000;
• £10,000; or
• Less than £10,000

can be granted based on impact from coronavirus. We will keep you updated with any further information here, but we would recommend if this could be you that you get in touch with your local authority as early as possible to improve your chances of getting funding here, especially as it is a discretionary fund and will run out.

Bounce Back Loans

From Monday 4^th May, the Bounce Back Loans came to the market, where you can borrow £50,000 (up to 25% of turnover) at 2.5% interest, interest and payment-free for 12 months, for a term of up to 6 years. In the first week or two banks are prioritising existing business customers, but this is likely to open up as time goes on and more lenders come on board. The original eight banks have now been extended to fourteen lenders, including:

1. AIB;
2. Bank of Scotland;
3. Barclays;
4. Clydesdale / Yorkshire ;
5. Danske;
6. HSBC;
7. Lloyds;
8. NatWest;
9. Santander;
10. Starling;
11. Co-operative;
12. RBS;
13. TSB; and
14. Ulster.

Whilst the scheme has been significantly more successful than the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (‘CBILS’, which is now for £50,001+ loans only) to date, with more than 69,000 loans worth over £2bn approved in the first 24 hours alone, it has still been a rather mixed experience. The application process, in general, is very quick and easy to complete and accepted via self-certification.

From our experience to date, Lloyds appears to have been best-in-class, approving and paying loans within 24 hours. On the other end of the scale, Barclays have had a number of issues with their systems appearing to struggle with the number of applications, with some of their clients seemingly unable to apply due to an error on their system, which they are still addressing now. In the middle is NatWest. After an initial enquiry is made, they could take days to come back to provide the application form to clients, drawing out the process. We hope that the process will only improve however as banks improve their systems and new lenders come on board here.

Don’t forget, this is still a loan and although the terms are generally very generous, it will need to be repaid, so only apply here if you need this loan. You will also have to confirm that your business has been adversely affected by the Coronavirus Crisis and didn’t have historical financial issues.

Other Measures

The other key measures where there have not been any substantial updates, but we include as a re-cap include:

• Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), or Furlough Scheme;
• Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS);
• Tax Helpline;
• Future Fund;
• VAT Deferral;
• Delay of second Payment On Account for Income Tax;
• Charity Support;
• Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS);
• Deferring Income Tax Payments;
• Prevent your business from being evicted;
• Statutory Sick Pay Relief; and
• Universal Credit.

Big Shave *coming soon*

Whether it’s Brian Blessed, Hagrid the Giant or perhaps more fitting due to my height, Gimli the Dwarf, it isn’t a good look to be rocking. For a bit of fun at this difficult time, watch this space for “The Big Shave”, which will be a great opportunity to raise money for an awesome local charity and save the eyeballs of those I know of having to see this on a regular basis.

More details to follow shortly and we would be delighted with any support you are able to offer. Given I used to work for Gillette, it is particularly something I need to address…

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.