Round 4 of the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) Scheme – 5 January 2022
Funding from central government is being used by Westminster City Council to administer a fourth round of grants to provide financial support to Westminster-based businesses that have been affected by COVID-19 based restrictions.
Westminster City Council has allocated £2.5m in funding towards the ARG scheme at a value of £10,000 per eligible business. ARGs will be payable on a per business basis, not an eligible hereditament basis. This round of funding has been devised with the intent of supporting specific sectors and small businesses that have not previously received any financial support from the previous three rounds of ARG funding.
The following eligibility criteria has been determined and businesses must meet both sections 1 and 2 (where applicable) to be considered eligible:
Section 1: Ratepaying businesses that have not received any previous grants from Westminster City Council are eligible to apply, with the exception of the following:
- Non-ratepayers
- Recipients of any of the previous COVID-19 business support grants from the council (unless they are one of the below-named specific business sectors)
- Businesses that have 50 employees or more and a turnover in excess of £10.2m
- Businesses that are considered by central government to be professional services, such as solicitors, accountants, insurance agents or financial advisers
- Local authority schools and colleges, private schools and colleges, and other educational establishments (note: language schools are eligible to apply under the criteria listed below)
- Businesses that occupy a property in the Valuation List with a description relating to: offices, garages, storage facilities and warehouses, advertising rights and stations, industrial premises, fire and ambulance stations, communication stations and public phone kiosks, universities or car parks
Section 2: Ratepaying businesses in the following specific sectors are eligible to apply even if they were recipients of the £10,000 Small Business Grant at the start of the pandemic:
- Medical
- TV, Film and Media
- Language Schools
- Dry Cleaners/Laundrettes
The ARG scheme will operate on a first come first served basis to eligible businesses that provide a valid completed application form together with all the requested documentary evidence. Please only submit an application if you believe your business meets all of the mandatory criteria for the scheme.
In total, the process will involve the completion of a full application form and businesses will then be required to submit supporting documentation via email for audit and compliance purposes.
Beyond standard details, we recommend having the following information to hand in order to help you complete the forms:
- Trading/registered address
- Company Registration Number / Charity Number (if applicable)
- Unique Tax Reference Number (if applicable)
- Business Rates Account Number (if applicable)
- Bank details for the payment of a grant
If you have queries regarding the grant scheme, please contact the Westminster Business Unit at: businessunit@westminster.gov.uk
Chancellor announces £1bn fund for businesses – 21 December 2021
A bailout package worth about £1bn for businesses losing trade because of the Omicron surge was announced by the chancellor on 21 December. The bailout package consists of four elements:
- Grants for hospitality and leisure businesses in England, worth up to £6,000 per premise. The Treasury has set aside £683m for these payments, which will be administered through local authorities and will be available in the coming weeks.
- Further grants for businesses in England, worth £102m, intended to help businesss most in need, and again administered through local authorities.
- The resumption of the statutory sick pay rebate scheme, which will reimburse employers in the UK with fewer than 250 workers for the cost of paying statutory sick pay for Covid-related absences for up to two weeks.
- An extra £30m for arts organisations, paid through the culture recovery fund.
Find out more here.
Plans to Boost the Economy – 3 March 2021
Restart grants
Nearly 700,000 shops, restaurants, hotels, hair salons, gyms and other high street businesses in England, will be eligible for restart grants, to be distributed directly to firms by local authorities from April. It will replace the current monthly grant system.
It will give hospitality businesses access to payments worth up to £18,000 while non-essential retail will be limited to £6,000 to reflect that the sector will be able to reopen earlier under the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown.
The grants for hospitality will be allocated based on the rateable value of a property. Properties with a rateable value of £15,000 or under will receive £8,000; those with a rateable value between £15,000-£51,000 will get £12,000 and businesses with properties that have a rateable value of £51,000 or over will be entitled to £18,000.
Furlough scheme
The furlough scheme has been extended until the end of September 2021. For employees there will be no change to the scheme. As businesses reopen, they will be asked to contribute. Nothing will change until July. After July, businesses will be asked for a 10% contribution, rising to 20% in August and September.
Self-employment grants
Support for the self-employed will also continue until September. As the economy reopens in the summer, the government will help people whose turnover has fallen by 30% or more.
Business rates holiday
The business rates holiday, brought in last year to support shops, will be extended beyond its current end date of 31 March, to the end of June 2021. For the remainder of the year, business rates will still be discounted by two thirds, up to a value of £2m for closed businesses, with a lower cap for those who have been able to stay open
Reduced VAT for hospitality
The 5% reduced rate of VAT for hospitality businesses will be extended for six months to 30 September followed by an interim rate of 12.5% for another six months. The standard rate will not return until April next year.
Cultural recovery fund
The Chancellor will put an extra £300m into the £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund, with England’s museums and cultural bodies also receiving £90m to keep going until they can open their doors on 17 May at the earliest – plus £18.8m provided for community cultural projects.
Round 2 of the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) Scheme – February 2021
The allocation for these funds from central Government has been based on the number of residents within the borough, not the number of businesses per borough and as such Westminster’s original allocation was limited to only £5.2m. All Local Authorities have since received top-up funding from central Government, still based on the number of residents formula. Westminster City Council’s top-up allocation is £2.3m bringing the total funding envelope to £7.5m.
The eligibility criteria has been determined following Cabinet Member direction. Following the first round of the scheme and the receipt of the top-up allocation from central Government, the City Council has revised the eligibility criteria for the scheme and increased the value of individual grant awards as follows:
- Previous Discretionary Grant Fund recipients who are in non-essential retail, hospitality or leisure; who supply the first-tier retail, hospitality or leisure sectors; and businesses within the events sector will now be eligible to apply.
- Successful applicants through the first round of ARG to receive a top-up of £3,000 to their originally approved £2,000 grant award.
- Enhancing the grants from £2,000 to £5,000 per business for new successful applicants through the second and possibly final round of the scheme.
Therefore only businesses who fall under one of the below three categories will be eligible to apply:
- non-ratepayers in non-essential retail, leisure, personal care, sports facilities and hospitality business (including, hotel and bed and breakfast accommodation and leisure businesses) which are effectively forced to close or have been severely impacted by the restrictions. This includes previous Discretionary Grant Fund recipients
- ratepayer or non-ratepayer businesses that supply (first tier) the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, including previous grant Discretionary Grant Fund recipients
- ratepayer or non-ratepayer businesses in the events sector, including previous Discretionary Grant Fund recipients
Please only submit an application to the City Council if you believe your business falls under one of the three listed business categories.
Due to the limited funding available to the Council, awards will continue to be made on a “first come first served” basis to eligible businesses that provide valid application forms together with all of the requested documentary evidence.
The scheme will be administered until the funding pot has been fully exhausted. Business who fail to submit all of the relevant documentary evidence in the timeframe stated on their application correspondence will have their applications discontinued.
The scheme will re-open at 12pm on Friday 26 February. The link to submit an application will be made available on our website once live.
The process will involve completing two forms – an initial pre-screening form and a full application form. Businesses will be required to submit supporting documentation via email for audit and compliance purposes.
We recommend having the following information to hand when completing the forms:
- Trading/registered address
- Company Registration Number/Charity Number (if applicable)
- Unique Tax Reference Number (if applicable)
- Links to online presence (if applicable)
- Information regarding the pandemic’s impact on the business (e.g. estimated percentage drop in sales)
- Business Rates Account Number (if applicable)
- Bank details
If you have any issues with the process, please contact the Westminster Business Unit on businessunit@westminster.gov.uk or telephone 020 7641 2070.
Coronavirus Business Grants from Westminster Council – January 2021
Eligibility for the Covid Business Support grants is dependent on many factors, including your sector, whether your business has been forced to close or not, and whether you are a business ratepayer.
Westminster City Council has updated its guidance on Covid grants, helping businesses to navigate the complex eligibility rules. Here we de-bunk some of the myths surrounding financial support packages.
- Restaurants, cafes and delis are eligible for grants even if you offered takeaway or delivery.
- Shops operating online, click and collect are eligible.
- Hotels and members clubs can receive support if you stayed open for key workers or essential business travellers.
- Reference to being open on 4 November 2020 in any qualifying questions refers to whether your business was a going concern on 4 November, not whether you were open and trading.
- Businesses who have not been forced to close but are severely impacted by Covid restrictions through supply chains are eligible.
Additional Restrictions Grants – Discretionary grants are aimed at businesses not previously benefiting from support payments. You don’t have to pay business rates to access these. If you have been severely impact or you supply sectors that have been forced to close, you can apply for a maximum of £2,000 per business. There are 2,600 grant awards available in this first round. The first round is open for applications from 14 January to 31 January 2021, or once the round allocation is exhausted. You can check your eligibility online here first, before making an application.
Localised Restriction Support Grant – The bulk of non-discretionary grants are aimed at those businesses in retail, hospitality, leisure and the night-time economy that have been forced to close under tier or lockdown restrictions. For these businesses Westminster City Council wrote in the November 2020 Lockdown to over 7,000 businesses asking for some additional business details. Until forms are returned, the City Council cannot pass on the money it has received from the government. Make sure you complete the forms to access the funding. If you have not received a form, please email westminster.nndr@secure.capita.co.uk include the word “Grant” and your business rate customer account number in the subject line of the email.
For any help with your grant application, please contact the Westminster Business Unit by email businessunit@westminster.gov.uk or call 020 7641 2070.
New Winter 2021 Lockdown Grants – 4 January 2021
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the third national knockdown on 4 January 2021 until at least February half-term, the Chancellor has announced one-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property.
The one-off top-ups will be granted to closed businesses as follows:
- £4,000 for businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or under
- £6,000 for businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
- £9,000 for businesses with a rateable value of over £51,000
£594 million discretionary fund also made available to support other impacted businesses.
Further details can be found at GOV.UK
Business Grant Update – December 2020
Central Government has asked local authorities to administer two new grant schemes and to make payments to businesses from two new funding pots on a discretionary basis.
The eligibility criteria for the non-discretionary schemes are determined by central Government and, in both cases, local authorities are fully funded for the grants paid.
Westminster Council has the data it needs to administer the non-discretionary schemes and will be contacting the relevant businesses in due course. For more details on the scheme, and the latest updates visit Westminster Council’s website.
- Business Grant for National Lockdown (Localised Restriction Support Grant: Closed): A non-discretionary grant for all businesses that are business ratepayers and have been instructed to close by the recent Government regulations during the national lockdown are eligible.
- Business Grant for nightclubs and sexual entertainment venues (Localised Restriction Support Grant: Sector): A non-discretionary grant for the 4-day period from 1 November 2020 to 4 November 2020 and subsequently after national lockdown (during national lockdown the businesses will be entitled to the above-mentioned National Lockdown grant).
- Funding for businesses not forced to close but impacted by the National Lockdown (Additional Restrictions Support Grant)
- Funding for businesses impacted while in Tier 2 (Localised Restriction Support Grant: Open)
For both the discretionary schemes (3) and (4), the Local Authority determines eligibility criteria. The eligibility requirements will be published online in due course and, given the limited amounts of funding provided to Westminster by central Government, we expect that an application process may be required.
Furlough Scheme Extension and Business Support Package – 31 October 2020
On 31 October the Prime Minister announced a four week lockdown for England, from 00:01 Thursday 5 November to Wednesday 2 December.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) – also known as the Furlough scheme – will remain open until the end of April 2021, with employees receiving 80% of their current salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500.
It also means the incentive of the Job Retention bonus falls away.
Businesses will have flexibility to bring furloughed employees back to work on a part time basis or furlough them full-time, and will only be asked to cover National Insurance and employer pension contributions which, for the average claim, accounts for just 5% of total employment costs.
The Job Support Scheme, which was scheduled to come in on Sunday 1 November, has been postponed.
The self-employed income support grant will also increase from 55% to 80% of average profits – up to £7,500.
More information can be found here: Economic Support Factsheet.
Businesses required to close in England due to local or national restrictions will be eligible for the following under the Local Restrictions Support Grant:
- For properties with a rateable value of £15k or under, grants to be £1,334 per month, or £667 per two weeks;
- For properties with a rateable value of between £15k-£51k grants to be £2,000 per month, or £1,000 per two weeks;
- For properties with a rateable value of £51k or over grants to be £3,000 per month, or £1,500 per two weeks.
Westminster City Council are working closely with Government on how these grants will be distributed and have more information here.
£1.1bn is being given to Local Authorities, distributed on the basis of £20 per head, for one-off payments to enable them to support businesses more broadly.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak Announces More Support for Businesses – 22 October 2020
Now superseded
On 22 October, the government announced it will increase the generosity and reach of its winter support schemes.
Business Grants for Tier 2
The grant system for businesses will be extended to businesses who are not forced to close by law but have been adversely impacted by the restrictions in high-alert level areas. Businesses will be eligible for cash grants of up to £2,100 a month.
These grants will be retrospective, with businesses in any area that has been under enhanced restrictions able to backdate claims to August.
Based on the business’s rateable value, grants will come via Westminster Council, and come on top of higher levels of additional business support for Local Authorities moving into Tier 3.
Check if you’re eligible for the coronavirus Local Restrictions Support Grant here.
Job Support Scheme
Now superseded
When originally announced, the JSS, which will come into effect on 1 November, saw employers paying a third of their employees’ wages for hours not worked, and required employers to be working 33% of their normal hours.
The employer contribution to the hours not worked will now reduce from 33% to five percent, and the number of hours an employee needs to work to be eligible to enter the scheme will be reduced from 33% to 20% of their hours.
Employers will continue to receive the £1,000 Job Retention Bonus. The Job Support Scheme Closed for businesses legally required to close remains unchanged.
This Job Support Scheme factsheet explains what is covered by the grant, which employers and employees are eligible, and how to claim.
Self-Employed Support
The amount of profits covered by the two forthcoming self-employed grants will increase from 20 per cent to 40 per cent, meaning the maximum grant will increase from £1,875 to £3,750.
Find out more on the Government website
The Chancellor’s Winter Economy Plan – 24 September 2020
New Job Support Scheme
Now superseded
A new Job Support Scheme will be introduced from 1 November to protect viable jobs in businesses who are facing lower demand over the winter months due to coronavirus.
The new scheme, which will run for six months, is designed for employees working at least a third of their normal hours. Employers will continue to pay the wages of staff for the hours they work – but for the hours not worked, the government and the employer will each pay one third of their equivalent salary.
All small and medium-sized businesses are eligible, but larger businesses must show their turnover has fallen during the crisis. Employers can use it even if they have not previous used the furlough scheme it replaces.
In order to support only viable jobs, employees must be working at least 33% of their usual hours. The level of grant will be calculated based on employee’s usual salary, capped at £697.92 per month.
It is designed to sit alongside the Jobs Retention Bonus and could be worth over 60% of average wages of workers who have been furloughed – and are kept on until the start of February 2021. Businesses can benefit from both schemes in order to help protect jobs.
In addition, the Government is continuing its support for millions of self-employed individuals by extending the Self Employment Income Support Scheme Grant (SEISS). An initial taxable grant will be provided to those who are currently eligible for SEISS and are continuing to actively trade but face reduced demand due to coronavirus. The initial lump sum will cover three months’ worth of profits for the period from November to the end of January next year. This is worth 20% of average monthly profits, up to a total of £1,875.
Tax cuts and deferrals
As part of the package, the government also announced it will extend the temporary 15% VAT cut for the tourism and hospitality sectors to the end of March next year.
In addition, up to half a million business who deferred their VAT bills will be given more breathing space through the New Payment Scheme, which gives them the option to pay back in smaller instalments. Rather than paying a lump sum in full at the end March next year, they will be able to make 11 smaller interest-free payments during the 2021-22 financial year.
Self-assessment taxpayers will be able to benefit from a separate additional 12-month extension from HMRC on the “Time to Pay” self-service facility, meaning payments deferred from July 2020, and those due in January 2021, will now not need to be paid until January 2022.
Giving businesses flexibility to pay back loans
The burden will be lifted on more than a million businesses who took out a Bounce Back Loan through a new Pay as You Grow flexible repayment system. This will provide flexibility for firms repaying a Bounce Back Loan.
This includes extending the length of the loan from six years to ten, which will cut monthly repayments by nearly half. Interest-only periods of up to six months and payment holidays will also be available to businesses. These measures will further protect jobs by helping businesses recover from the pandemic.
In addition, the Chancellor also announced he would be extending applications for the government’s coronavirus loan schemes until the end of November.
You can find the Winter Economy Plan update in full here.
The Chancellor’s Plan for Jobs – 8 July 2020
On 8 July 2020, The Chancellor announced a boost for the hospitality sector through a raft of measures to help speed up economic recovery as we emerge from the Covid-19 crisis. From VAT cuts for the hospitality sector to a boost for eating out, the package supports jobs, businesses and the housing market. Marble Arch London BID welcomes this injection, following extensive lobbying as part of our Recovery Plan, to bolster businesses and jobs in the hardest hit sector across our district.
Hospitality VAT Cut from 20% to 5%
The rate of VAT applied on most tourism and hospitality-related activities will be cut from 20% to 5% from next Wednesday 15 July until 31 March 2021.
This cut will apply to eat-in or hot takeaway food from restaurants, cafes and pubs, accommodation in hotels, B&Bs, campsites and caravan sites, attractions like cinemas, theme parks and zoos.
Job Retention Bonus
The Chancellor also announced a Job Retention Bonus, giving £1,000 to businesses who bring back employees from furlough. The government will also pay firms a £1,000 bonus for every staff member kept on for three months when the furlough scheme ends in October.
“If you’re an employer and you bring back someone who was furloughed – and continuously employ them through to January – we’ll pay you a £1,000 bonus per employee. So for businesses to get the bonus, the employee must be paid at least £520 on average, in each month from November to the end of January – the equivalent of the lower earnings limit in National Insurance.”
Kickstart Scheme
A new £2 billion scheme will also be launched to create hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people across the country. Those aged 16-24, claiming Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment, will be eligible. Funding available for each six-month job placement will cover 100% of the National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week – and employers will be able to top this wage up.
Employment and support schemes
A total of £1.6 billion will be invested in scaling up employment support schemes, training and apprenticeships to help people looking for a job. The plan will also create tens of thousands of jobs through bringing forward work on £8.8 billion of new infrastructure, decarbonisation and maintenance projects. In addition, £5.8 billion will be spent on shovel-ready construction projects to get Britain building.
Stamp Duty
A temporary increase to the Nil Rate Band of Residential SDLT (Stamp Duty) from £125,000 to £500,000 has been introduced until 31 March 2021.
Full details of the announcement can be found here.
Eat Out to Help Out Discount
To encourage people to safely return to eating out at restaurants the Government’s new discount scheme will provide a 50% reduction for sit-down meals in cafes, restaurants and pubs across the UK from Monday to Wednesday every week throughout August 2020, up to a maximum discount of £10 per head. Alcohol is excluded.
Mr Sunak says the “Eat Out to Help Out” discount would help protect 1.8 million jobs.
Businesses will need to register, and can do so through a simple website, open next Monday. Each week in August, businesses can then claim the money back, with the funds in their bank account within 5 working days.
Click here to find out more about the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, including how to register for the scheme.
Free Advice to Small Firms – 9 July 2020
The Recovery Advice for Business scheme, supported by the government and hosted on the Enterprise Nation website, will give small firms access to free, one-to-one advice with an expert adviser to help them through the coronavirus pandemic and to prepare for long-term recovery.
The platform is now live, click here to access it.
Advice offered will include bespoke, specialist assistance from accountancy, legal, and advertising to marketing, recruitment and digital to help businesses adapt to difficult circumstances and to bounce back as the UK economy recovers.
Further details on the announcement and how it works can be found here.
Code of Practice for Commercial Property Sector – 19 June 2020
The Government has published a code of practice to provide clarity for businesses when discussing rental payments and to encourage best practice so that all parties are supported. Please see the full announcement here.
The Government will lay secondary legislation to prevent landlords using Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery unless they are owed 189 days of unpaid rent. The time period for which this measure is in force will be extended from June 30 to September 30.
An amendment to the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill has been tabled which will extend the temporary ban on the use of statutory demands and winding-up petitions where a company cannot pay its bills due to coronavirus until 30 September.
Loans and grants – April 2020
Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme supports small and medium-sized businesses, with an annual turnover of up to £45m, to access loans, overdrafts, invoice finance and asset finance of up to £5 million for up to six years.
The scheme will be delivered through commercial lenders, backed by the Government-owned British Business Bank. The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80% on each loan (subject to a per-lender cap on claims) to give lenders further confidence in continuing to provide finance to SMEs. The government will also make a Business Interruption Payment to cover the first 12 months of interest payment and any lender-levied fees, so businesses will benefit from no upfront costs and lower initial repayments.
100% government backed loan scheme for small business
The new Bounce Back Loans scheme announced by the Chancellor on 27 April, will allow businesses to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000 and access the cash within days. Loans will be interest free for the first 12 months, and from 4 May businesses can apply online through a short and simple form.
The Government will provide lenders with a 100% guarantee for the loan and pay any fees and interest for the first 12 months. No repayments will be due during the first 12 months.
The loans will be easy to apply for through a short, standardised online application. Loans should reach businesses within days – providing immediate support to those that need it as easily as possible.
The scheme will launch for applications on Monday 4 May. Firms will be able to access these loans through a network of accredited lenders. The government will work with lenders to ensure loans delivered through this scheme are advanced as quickly as possible and agree a low standardised level of interest for the remaining period of the loan.
Cash Grant for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure
If your business is in the retail, hospitality or leisure sector, you may receive a cash grant of up to £25,000 per property. Businesses in these sectors with a property that has a rateable value of £15,000 and under may be eligible for a grant of £10,000. Businesses in these sectors with a property that has a rateable value of over £15,000 and less than £51,000 may be eligible for a grant of £25,000.
Small Business Grant Funding
The Government is providing additional funding for Local Authorities to support small businesses that already pay little or no business rates because of small business rate relief (SBRR), rural rate relief (RRR) and tapered relief. This will provide a one-off grant of £10,000 to eligible businesses to help meet their ongoing business costs.
Statutory Sick Pay Rebate
The Government will bring forward legislation to allow small and medium-sized businesses to reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid for staff sickness absence due to coronavirus. This refund will cover up to 2 weeks’ SSP per eligible employee who has been off work because of coronavirus.
Covid-19 Corporate Financing Facility
The new Covid-19 Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) means that the Bank of England will buy short-term debt from larger companies. This will support companies which are fundamentally strong, but have been affected by a short-term funding squeeze. It will also support corporate finance markets overall and ease the supply of credit to all firms. The scheme will be funded by central bank reserves – in line with other Bank of England market operations. It will operate for at least 12 months, and for as long as steps are needed to relieve cash flow pressures on firms that make a material contribution to the UK economy.
Business Support Helpline
You can call the Business Support Helpline (England) on 0300 456 3565 Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm.
Business Rates – 17 March 2020
Due to the lack of support for businesses with a rateable value of more than £51,000 in the Budget and with many high street businesses facing severe cash-flow problems, on 16 March 2020 the Marble Arch London joined major national trade bodies and campaigners to call for the Budget’s business rate holiday for small high street businesses to be extended immediately to the other 70% of high street companies, regardless of size.
The Chancellor announced additional support on 17 March 2020 for the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors during the outbreak in response to the main concerns expressed to the Government by national industry bodies, the Retailer Rates Action Group, Marble Arch London, and our fellow BIDs. If your business occupies a property in the hospitality or retail sector, you will be eligible for a 100% discount on your business rates bill for 1 year. There is no need to contact Westminster council as they will be amending your account and will issue a communication confirming the position in due course. Find out more.
Following our lobbying, business rates relief was extended to the following sectors on 25 March 2020: employment agencies, estate agents, casinos, clubs, wellness centres and spas. For more information on Business Rates relief, please read Business Rates – Expanded Retail Discount 2020/21: Coronavirus Response – Local Authority Guidance
VAT Deferral and Time to Pay – March 2020
The Government will support businesses by deferring Valued Added Tax (VAT) payments for 3 months. If you’re self-employed, Income Tax payments due in July 2020 under the Self-Assessment system will be deferred to January 2021.
For VAT, the deferral will apply from 20 March 2020 until 30 June 2020. All UK businesses are eligible. This is an automatic offer with no applications required. Businesses will not need to make a VAT payment during this period.
Taxpayers will be given until the end of the 2020 to 2021 tax year to pay any liabilities that have accumulated during the deferral period. VAT refunds and reclaims will be paid by the government as normal.
For Income Tax Self-Assessment, payments due on the 31 July 2020 will be deferred until the 31 January 2021.
If you are self-employed you are eligible. This is an automatic offer with no applications required. No penalties or interest for late payment will be charged in the deferral period.
All businesses and self-employed people in financial distress, and with outstanding tax liabilities, may be eligible to receive support with their tax affairs through HMRC’s Time To Pay service. These arrangements are agreed on a case-by-case basis and are tailored to individual circumstances and liabilities.
You are eligible if your business:
- Pays tax to the UK government;
- Has outstanding tax liabilities.
HMRC have set up a COVID-19 helpline. Advisers can talk to you about problems paying your taxes due to COVID-19 via webchat or phone.
Commercial Tenants – March 2020
The UK Government announced that commercial tenants who cannot pay their rent because of the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis will be protected from eviction for at least three months. Read the announcement here.
You might find this factsheet from London Growth Hub on how to negotiate a rent holiday helpful.
Coronavirus Job Retention scheme and furlough – March 2020
Furlough leave has been temporarily introduced by the government during the coronavirus pandemic to mean leave offered which keeps employees on the payroll without them working.
The Treasury has issued a Direction to HMRC under powers conferred by the Coronavirus Act 2020, containing authority and instructions for making payments under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Although amendments are possible, it is likely to be the definitive guidance on how the Job Retention Scheme works.
Accounting and Corporate Governance – March 2020
On 28 March 2020, Business Secretary Alok Sharma outlined a series of temporary relaxation of regulations to ease further the pressure on businesses. This gives companies a three month extension for filing of annual accounts, improve the insolvency system to help keep companies trading, and temporarily suspends certain personal obligations on company directors to remove threats regarding insolvency.
The Charity and Voluntary Sector
Mayor contributes £1m to new emergency support fund
The Mayor of London has contributed £1 million to create a new emergency fund for community and voluntary sector organisations affected by the impact of the virus. The Mayor joined City Bridge Trust, the City of London Corporation’s charitable funder, and London Funders, a network of investors of London’s civil society, to launch the new fund – with an initial £1 million provided by City Hall and £1 million from City Bridge Trust.
The Community Contribution Fund – COVID-19 grant scheme
In response to the coronavirus outbreak, The City of Westminster Charitable Trust has launched a new COVID-19 grant scheme as part of the Community Contribution, which was created to give Westminster residents in the top Council tax bands the opportunity to give more to their local community, on a voluntary basis.
The COVID-19 fund will help frontline voluntary and community organisations that are providing vital services to support the most vulnerable in Westminster. Grants of up to £15,000 are available for projects that:
- Provide extra support to help rough sleepers off the street or to keep them protected during the outbreak
- Provide youth support
- Offer support to people who are suffering from social isolation or loneliness.
All organisations must operate in Westminster and the following organisations can apply: voluntary and community organisations, registered charities, constituted groups or clubs, not-for-profit or community interest companies, social enterprises and schools.
Applications for the COVID-19 grant scheme can be made here.
Help for the Self Employed – March 2020
The Self-employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will support self-employed individuals (including members of partnerships) whose income has been negatively impacted by COVID-19. The scheme will provide a grant to self-employed individuals or partnerships, worth 80% of their profits up to a cap of £2,500 per month.
HMRC will use the average profits from tax returns in 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 to calculate the size of the grant. The scheme will be open to those where the majority of their income comes from self-employment and who have profits of less than £50,000. The scheme will be open for an initial three months with people able to make their first claim by the beginning of June.
Regional and Westminster Information
To support businesses in London, the London Growth Hub has brought together essential resources to help businesses manage and mitigate its exposure to the impact of coronavirus. Find out more here.
You can also read Westminster Council’s business help pages here.
Marble Arch London BID has launched its Recovery Plan, helping our members get back to business.
You can use this business support finder to see what support is available for your business.