Government issued support for your business

Wed 29 April 2020

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.  

Deferring VAT
If you are 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.  

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.  

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 two weeks of SSP for every eligible employee.  

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 2020-2021 tax year. You do not need to do anything. If you are eligible, your local council will apply the discount automatically. You are eligible if your property is a:
• Restaurant, café, bar or pub
• Cinema or live music venue
• Shop
• Assembly or leisure property: for example, a sports club, a gym or a spa
• Hospitality property: for example, a hotel, a guesthouse or self-catering accommodation 

Retail Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund
If your business is in the retail, hospitality or leisure sector and you have 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.  

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
• Rural rate relief 
• Tapered relief 

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
If you are a small to medium size business (SME) you may be able to apply for a temporary loan, overdraft, invoice finance and asset finance of up to £5m, for up to six years.  

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. 

Please note that you may be eligible for more than one scheme. For detailed information about different types of business support schemes, check the Coronavirus Business Support web page.