The coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS) will continue until 30 September 2021
What support is given?
- 80% of gross wages will be paid for as a grant for time not worked (furloughed) up to a maximum of £2,500 until June falling to 70% and £2,187.50 for July and 60% and £1,875 for August and September
- an employer must pay the employee at least 80% of their usual wage when not working and can top up the extra 20% if they choose to do so at their own cost
- employers must pay all of the employer’s national insurance and minimum pension contributions
- payments are made within 6 working days of claiming
What employees qualify?
- any employee on a payroll filed with HMRC by midnight on Tuesday 2 March 2021 qualifies
- the employee must have been paid
- all employees qualify including directors and company secretaries
Is part-time (flexi) furlough allowed?
- flexi and full-time furlough is permitted, allowing for staff to work part-time
- there is no minimum working time to qualify for flexi furlough – it can be a week, day, or hour
Do all employers qualify?
- all employers can claim unless your staff costs are publicly funded
How to claim?
- claims are made using a HMRC portal
- hours not worked and usual hours will need to be reported for anyone flexi furloughed
- the grant can be claimed 14 days prior to or after submitting a pay run
The Self Employed Income Support scheme (SEISS) will continue until 30 September 2021
The Government has announced that there will be a fourth grant covering February 2021 to April 2021 to be claimed by 31 May 2021, and a fifth grant from May to September (claim deadline to be announced).
This taxable 4th grant allows payments to be made for:-
- A quarterly grant of 80% of average monthly taxable profits over the three years to 5 April 2021
- Capped at a total of £7,500
- Payable as a lump sum and administered by HMRC
The 5th grant has a different payment structure:-
- The grant value will be determined based on a turnover test in the year April 2020 to April 2021
- Traders whose turnover has decreased by 30% or more will receive the full grant worth 80% of three months’ average trading profits, capped at £7,500 in total
- Traders whose turnover has decreased by less than 30% will receive a 30% grant, capped at £2,850
- Claims can be made from late July 2021
To qualify you must:-
The same eligibility conditions apply to both rounds of grant funding.
- Have submitted your Income Tax Self Assessment tax return for the tax year 2019-20 on or by 2 March 2021
- Have traded in the tax years 2019-20 and 2020-21
- Be trading and impacted by COVID-19 when you apply or would be except for COVID-19
- Intend to continue to trade
- Have lost significant trading/partnership trading profits due to COVID-19. You should keep records to support this
- Have average self-employed trading profits between £0 – £50,000
- Have more than half of your total income from self-employment profits
- You can check online with HMRC to find out if you’re eligible to make a claim. You’ll need your Self Assessment Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) number and your National Insurance number
How to claim?
- You must make the claim yourself. Your tax agent or adviser must not claim on your behalf as this will trigger a fraud alert, and you will have to contact HMRC. This will cause a significant delay in receiving your payment.
- You can claim online with HMRC using your Government Gateway user ID and password – if you do not have a user ID, you can create one when you make your claim.
The grant payments form part of your self-employment income and are included for working out your income tax and national insurance.
This scheme does not cover directors or shareholders trading as a limited company. They have to use the “furloughing” grant claim scheme.
There is more information at .gov.uk
Author: Nathan Holmes
Life partner to Sally. He enjoys exploring the West Country by foot and bicycle. Sally and Nathan have pledged to walk all of the Cornish South West Coast Path this year.
His nominate charity for the year is the Rowcroft Hospice an independent South Devon charity providing a wide range of specialist palliative care services for people and their families with progressive life-limiting illnesses.
Email Nathan Holmes