Late Friday afternoon a number of support packages for employees and the self-employed were announced for the coming months at the same time as many businesses were told to close down.
The key points were:
1. Pubs, restaurants, entertainment and leisure centres have been asked to close.
- places where you gather socially will close.
- shops can stay open (although many have announced they are closing).
- you can still exercise outdoors but apply the social distancing rules.
- these requirements will be reviewed monthly.
2. Taxes deferred
- VAT payments for the next quarter are deferred so no VAT payments need to be made until the end of June. Any deferred payments have to be paid by the end of the 2020/21 tax year.
- Self assessment payments on account due on 31 July 2020 will be delayed until January 2021.
3. Support for Self-Employed
- The minimum income floor for universal credit has been removed.
- Any self-employed person can claim universal credit and will be eligible for the full statutory sick pay rate of £94.25.
- Apply for universal tax credit here.
4. Paying employees
- 80% of PAYE employees wages will be covered by the Government if they would otherwise be laid off.
- This will be backdated to 1 March.
- This is a government grant that has to be claimed. The mechanism to do so should be available by the end of April and we will provide further details in due course.
- There is a cap of £2,500 per month on the amount that can be claimed.
We are here to support you so if there is anything you need please don't hesitate to get in touch.