Further guidance has now been published in regards to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and support for the self-employed and we have summarised below.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
- The service is now due to be launched on 20 April. This will be a self-service system and it is expected to be oversubscribed in the first few days after it’s release, so technical difficulties should be expected in the early days. Additional guidance on how to use the system is expected later this week.
- All of the following information will be needed by all claimants:
- The business’ bank account number and sort code;
- A business contact name and phone number;
- Your self-assessment UTR (if the employer business is run as a sole trader or partnership); or your company UTR or Companies House registration number (if the employer business is run through a limited company);
- Employee name; number; and national insurance of each furloughed employee;
- The amount of support being claimed; and
- The furlough period for each employee.
- Registered PAYE agents may make claims on behalf of their clients.
- The detailed guidance on which employees are eligible and how much support employers can claim for has been updated: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme
We encourage anyone intending to make a claim to have all of the above information ready before the 20 April date.
Support for the Self-employed
- HMRC has confirmed that it will contact eligible taxpayers in mid-May and invite them to make a claim through the new portal that is currently being built. Taxpayers should not contact HMRC about the scheme before this time.
- The funding provided will be subject to income tax and national insurance as trading profits in the normal way and included on the taxpayer’s annual tax return.
- HMRC will use submitted tax returns to calculate how much each taxpayer is eligible for. It can, therefore, be expected that HMRC will generate a claim figure for the taxpayer to accept as part of their claim submission, rather than the taxpayer needing to calculate the figure. Whilst we are still awaiting full details of how the claim portal will work, HMRC has published the following guidance to illustrate how the value will be calculated under various scenarios: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-hmrc-works-out-total-income-and-trading-profits-for-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme
- The above guidance confirms that trading losses made during the averaging period will be taken into account in the calculation, meaning that they will lower the average profits and so could impact on the monthly value of a claim.
- Anyone considering claiming Universal Credit whilst waiting for the self-employment support should bear in mind that the self-employment support will be taken into account when assessing eligibility for Universal Credit support.
Unfortunately, there is still no support of real value for owner-directors of limited companies who are not eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Pressure continues to build on the Government to address this, but nothing has been announced so far.
Finally, as a reminder for anyone looking to take advantage of the VAT Deferral Scheme, please note that whilst VAT liabilities may be deferred, VAT returns must still be submitted on time via normal Making Tax Digital systems.
If you have any questions regarding these measures or any of those previously announced, please feel free to contact us.