Well here we are again, everything thrown up in the air and many of us not sure what help will be available to us through these difficult times ☹
I have highlighted the three areas that apply to the majority of my clients, whether they are self-employed, and or employers, and or are subject to business rates, or are an employee of their own limited company.
Furlough Scheme
It looks as if the Furlough Scheme that was due to end on the 31st October will now continue for November. The grant will be 80% of the employees usual pay. Employees must be on the PAYE payroll on 31st October 2020 and an RTI submission made for that employee before 30th October 2020. Which means that some employees will be eligible who weren’t before. Neither the employee nor the employer needs to have previously used the Furlough Scheme, so employees can be put on furlough who have not previously been on furlough. The employee can be on Flexi-Furlough or full Furlough.
What this effectively means for Synergy Payroll Clients is that the Furlough Scheme will be paid to employees through the payroll in November and I will claim the grant as I have done in previous months.
Further Furlough Extension information can be found by following this link
Business Rates Grants
Grants of £1334 per month will be available for those whose business has a rateable value of £15,000 or less where the business has been forced to close – this includes cafes and restaurants as well as non-essential shops. This is to be paid through the local authority as was the initial £10,000. You can check how to apply by contacting your local authority or by checking their website.
The Self-Employed Income Support Scheme
The self-employed income support scheme for the 3 months from the 1st November to the 31st January has been increased from 20% average of previous trading profits to 80% for November and 40% for December and January . Whilst the 40% for December and January is less than the 80% and 70% paid to those eligible in the previous grants, it is double the amount that had been announced prior to the new national lockdown.
However you should note that the criteria has changed for the extended SEISS grants. You are now required to state that your business has been ‘impacted by reduced demand’ in order to make a claim.
The conditions now are that you have to have been eligible for the previous SEISS grants, although you don’t need to have claimed them; you need to declare that you intend to continue to trade and that you are either currently actively trading, but ‘impacted by reduced demand’ due to Coronavirus, or were previously trading but are temporarily unable to do so due to Coronavirus.
The new condition differs from the previous SEISS requirement where the trade had to be ‘adversely affected’ by Coronavirus. Previously increased expenses could be taken into account when deciding whether a business was ‘adversely affected’. The new condition is more restrictive as it means that you have to focus purely on the level of trade in the business in order to show that you have been ‘impacted by reduced demand’.
You should be able to make this claim through your HMRC Gateway account in the same way as with the previous grants. The claims will be open from the 30th November.
As usual if there are any questions that you have regarding your specific circumstances we should be pleased to hear from you. Koreen can be contacted on 07531741287 or her e-mail address is koreen@synergyaccounting.co.uk
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About the Author:
Koreen is a Member in Practice of The Association of Accounting Technicians, which means that she is both licensed and regulated by the AAT. However Koreen is also a Fellow Member which is an acknowledgement by the AAT of her senior status in terms of knowledge and experience.