COVID-19 support for business owners

Our COVID-19 Support page is aimed at specifically at Small Business Owners in England and lists 16  forms of financial support currently available from the Government.

This support may be worth in excess of £100,000 to even the smallest of businesses. For example, a small business with £200k turnover operating from a retail unit with 3 employees can receive £105k from only 4 of the 16 routes available.

Bounce Back Loan                                              £50,000
Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund £25,000
Self-Employment Income Support Scheme  £7,500
Furlough my employees    £22,500
Total   £105,000

If you would like a bespoke report specifically for you, then register for a “COVID-19 Discovery Call” at 01273 441187 or contact us via the button on our homepage.

Contact

1       Furlough my staff via the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

If you are an employer with a PAYE scheme, you should be able to access support to continue paying part of your employees’ salary instead of laying them off.

This applies to employees who have been asked to stop working because of coronavirus, but are being kept on the payroll. They are known as ‘furloughed workers’. HMRC will pay 80% of their wages, up to £2,500 per month.

Check if you are eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Latest News 12/5/2020 The Furlough scheme is to be extended until October and you will be able to be furloughed and work part time from July. More details to follow…..

2       Statutory Sick Pay rebate

Employers can reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid for sickness absence due to COVID-19. This scheme will cover up to 2 weeks of SSP for every eligible employee.

Employers must maintain records of staff absences and payments for SSP. Employees will not have to provide a GP fit note.

You are eligible if your business meets both of the following requirements. Your business is:

  • UK based
  • Small or medium-sized and employs fewer than 250 employees as of 28 February 2020

Claim back Statutory Sick Pay paid to employees due to coronavirus (COVID-19)

3       Support for businesses paying tax: Time To Pay Service

If you cannot pay your tax bill on time because of coronavirus, you may be able to delay it without penalty using HMRC’s Time to Pay service.

You may be eligible if you are a UK business that:

  • pays tax to the UK government
  • has outstanding tax liabilities

If you cannot pay your tax bill on time

4       Deferring VAT

If you’re a UK VAT registered business and have a VAT payment due between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020, you have the option to defer payment until 31 March 2021. If you normally pay by Direct Debit you should contact your bank to cancel your Direct Debit as soon as you can. You do not need to contact HMRC before doing this.

Check if you are eligible to defer your VAT payment

5       Deferring PAYE

If you’re an employer you can gain a useful cashflow advantage at this time by contacting HMRC on 08000 241 222 and they seem happy to accept PAYE deferrals for up to 3 months in all cases.

6       Deferring Corporation Tax

If you’re a company you can gain a useful cashflow advantage at this time by contacting HMRC on 08000 241 222 and they seem happy to accept Corporation tax deferrals for up to 3 months in all cases.

7       Deferring Self Assessment payments on account

If you are due to pay a Self Assessment payment on account by 31 July 2020, you can defer payment up until January 2021. You will not be charged any interest or penalties during the deferral period.

You do not need to be self-employed to be eligible for the deferment.

The deferment is optional. If you are still able to pay your second payment on 31 July, you should do so.

This is an automatic offer. You do not need to apply for the deferral, or tell HMRC. If you normally pay by Direct Debit you should contact your bank to cancel your Direct Debit as soon as you can. You do not need to contact HMRC before doing this.

8       Self-Employment Income Support Scheme

If you are self-employed (either as an individual or in a partnership), you can claim a taxable grant worth 80% of your trading profits up to a maximum of £2,500 per month, for 3 months. This may be extended.

You may be eligible for this scheme if:

  • you’ve lost profits due to coronavirus
  • you’ve submitted your Self Assessment tax return for 2018 to 2019 tax year
  • you traded in 2019 to 2020 tax year
  • you are trading when you apply, or would be except for coronavirus
  • you intend to continue trading in 2020 to 2021 tax year
  • your trading profits have been no more than £50,000 for either 2018 to 2019 tax year, or as an average of last 3 financial years
  • your trading profits have been more than half of your total income for either 2018 to 2019 tax year, or as an average of last 3 financial years

Trading profits do not include dividends paid from your own company to yourself.

If you are not eligible for the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, you may be eligible for Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance.

Information on the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme

SEISS Application walkthrough

9       Self-Employment & Universal Credit

Universal Credit is a monthly payment to help with your living costs. You may be able to get it if you’re on a low income or out of work.

Find out if you’re eligible for Universal Credit.

10     Business rates holiday for retail, hospitality and leisure

Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in England will not have to pay business rates for the 2020 to 2021 tax year.

You do not need to do anything. If you are eligible, your local council will apply the discount automatically.

You’re eligible if your property is a:

  • shop
  • restaurant, café, bar or pub
  • cinema or live music venue
  • assembly or leisure property - for example, a sports club, a gym or a spa
  • hospitality property - for example, a hotel, a guest house or self-catering accommodation

Check if your retail, hospitality or leisure business is eligible for business rates relief due to coronavirus (COVID-19)

11     Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund

You may be eligible for a grant of up to £25,000 per property.

If your business has a property with a rateable value of £15,000 or under, you may be eligible for a grant of £10,000.

If your business has a property that has a rateable value of over £15,000 but less than £51,000, you may be eligible for a grant of £25,000.

You are eligible if your business:

  • is based in England
  • is in the retail, hospitality or leisure sector
  • has a property that is wholly or mainly used as hospitality, retail, or leisure venue

Contact your local council if you think you are eligible for a grant but have not yet received it.

Coronavirus guidance on business support grant funding

12     Small Business Grant Funding

You may be eligible for a one-off grant of £10,000 if you are a small business that already pays little or no business rates because of:

  • small business relief (SBBR)
  • rural rate relief (RRR)
  • tapered relief

You are eligible if:

  • your business is based in England
  • in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief as of 11 March 2020
  • you are a business that occupies a property

Contact your local council if you think you are eligible for a grant but have not yet received it.

Coronavirus: business support grant funding guidance for businesses

13     Support for nursery businesses that pay business rates

Nurseries in England do not have to pay business rates for the 2020 to 2021 tax year. Your council will do this automatically.

You’re eligible if your business is on Ofsted’s Early Years Register and provides care and education for children up to 5 years old (early years foundation stage).

Local authority-run nurseries are not eligible.

Check if your nursery is eligible for business rates relief due to coronavirus (COVID-19)

14     Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme - CBILS

If you are a small to medium-sized business (SME) you may be able to apply for a temporary loan, overdraft, invoice finance and asset finance of up to £5 million, for up to 6 years.

You may also be eligible for Business Interruption Payment to cover the first 12 months of interest payments and any lender fees. The government will give lenders 80% guarantee on each loan (subject to pre-lender cap on claims).

Self-employed people are also eligible for Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

You may be eligible for this scheme if you meet all of the following criteria:

  • your business is UK-based, with a turnover of no more than £45 million per year
  • you have a borrowing proposal which would be considered viable by the lender, if not for the current pandemic
  • you can self-certify that coronavirus (COVID-19) has adversely impacted your business

Apply for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme

15     Coronavirus Bounce Back Loan - CBBLS

If your small to medium-sized business (SME) is affected by coronavirus, you may be able to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000 through a Bounce Back Loan scheme.

The government will guarantee 100% of the loan and for the first 12 months you will not have to pay any fees or interest, or make repayments.

You may be eligible for this scheme if your business:

  • has been negatively affected by coronavirus
  • was not an ‘undertaking in difficulty’ on 31 December 2019

This includes self-employed people.

Apply for a Coronavirus Bounce Back loan

16     Coronavirus & Mortgage Holiday

You may be able to get a mortgage holiday from your lender

See Mortgages during COVID-19

Please note that you may be eligible for more than one scheme, whether your business is open or closed so if you are not sure please ask us for details.

Extra funding of up to £9,000 is now available for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors via Adur & Worthing Council.

Businesses eligible for the latest top-up funding announced by the Chancellor in early January can now register via the councils’ online portals.

The funding is part of a range of support available to businesses forced to close by the latest set of lockdown restrictions.

Anyone who pays business rates and has been forced to reduce trading due to either the Tier 4 or the current national lockdown can apply for the funding and it does not have to be paid back.

To make things easier for businesses and ensure funds can be distributed as quickly as possible, the payments for Tier 4, National Lockdown and the top-up grant, have been rolled into one registration process.

If you have already applied for Tier 4 or lockdown funding you will be contacted directly and there is no need to re-register.

To apply, visit: www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support/#cblp.

In addition, the Council has a further discretionary fund of up to £1million available to all businesses affected by the latest Covid restrictions -there are no restrictions on who can apply and applications will be assessed against the Council’s published criteria.

To apply for this funding visit

www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support.

The Council are aware that many small businesses have not applied for support yet and are encouraging businesses not sure if they can apply to come forward and talk to them.

To contact the Council team email

business.covidsupport@adur-worthing.gov.uk.

For further information is available at

www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support.

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