2nd Lockdown - Small Business Financial Support

Furlough Scheme Extended until December

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS or ‘furlough’) was set to end 31 October, and be replaced by the Job Support Scheme (JSS). The JSS has now been postposted until the end of the CJRS, which is currently ‘December’ with no fixed date – presumably until the end of national lockdown.

The main points of the CJRS:

• Scheme extended until December and will mirror the flexible furlough available in August.
• Scheme will pay up to 80% workers wages (up to a cap of £2,500pm), with employers able to top-up if they wish
• Employer will be responsible for paying employer NIC and employer pension contributions
• Both flexible and full-time furlough available
• Grants will be paid similar to present furlough scheme (claimed upfront), after a short period at the start of November whilst HMRC update their systems
• Employees are eligible if they were on an employers PAYE scheme by 30 October 2020 (a payroll submission must have been made by this date)
• Rentention scheme bonus of £1,000 per employee, planned to be paid in February has now been scrapped

We expect further guidance to be issued shortly and will update this blog when that happens.

Business Grants

Businesses requuired to close due to the national restrictions will be eligble for the following grants:

• £1,334pm for properties with a rateable value of £15k or under
• £2,000pm for properties with a rateable value of £15k – £51k
• £3,000pm for properties with a rateable value of £51k and above

Business grants will be payable via your local authority – contact them or check their website for details of how to apply.

Self Employed Grants

The currently available self-employed grants have also been increased from 40% to 80% of profits for November. This means the maximum grant is £5,160 for the 3 month period 1st November 2020 to January 2021 with a further grant available for the period 1st February 2021 to 30th April 2021.

Limited Company Director

Directors of their own Limited Companies will be able to claim under the Scheme, with the maximum claim amount being £575pm (if a tax efficient salary has been paid).

What to do now?

We’ll be updating you regularly with any additional updates. For now, get your business prepared for the 2nd National Lockdown. You can take a look at our previous blogs which may help, How to put your business on pause, and Top tips for working from home.

Full guidance from HMRC can be found here.