Government Support
COVID-19: Support available for businesses
| What is it? | Who is it for? | When is it available?
What local support is available? |
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| Staff costs | Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
The Government will cover up to 80% of salary (up to £2,500 per month) per employee for businesses to retain and furlough employees who would otherwise be made redundant due to Coronavirus related disruption – this will be backdated to 1st March 2020 |
Available for businesses and charities of all sizes and sectors. Employers will be asked to submit information (details TBC) to an HMRC portal | HMRC are aiming to launch the scheme towards the end of April.
Shrewsbury BID has launched an employment advice service for BID Members. Find out more. |
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| Statutory Sick Pay Refund
The Government will refund employers up to 14 days statutory sick pay per employee off sick or self-isolating from day 1 |
Available for businesses and charities with under 250 employees. Employers will be able to access it Via HMRC (details tbc) | HMRC are aiming to launch the scheme towards the end of April.
For the time being, all firms to keep careful records of sickness & self-isolation absence in order to have evidence available as soon as the scheme launches.
Shrewsbury BID has launched an employment advice service for BID Members. Find out more. |
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| Grants | Small Business Grant (£10,000)
The Government will provide a one-off grant of £10,000 to businesses receiving Small Business Rate Relief (SBRF) or Rural Rate Relief (RRR)
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Businesses receiving Small Business Rate Relief (SBRF) or Rural Rate Relief (RRR) | Applications through Shropshire Council are now open.
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| Small Business Grant (up to £25,000)
The Government will provide cash grants for retail, leisure & hospitality sector businesses with a rateable value of up to £51,000 with a cash grant of up to £25,000
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Businesses in this sector with a rateable value of £15,000 or under will receive a grant of £10,000.
Businesses in this sector with a rateable value of £15,001 up to £51,000 will receive a £25,000 grant. |
Applications through Shropshire Council are now open.
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| Loans | Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
The British Business Bank will issue guarantees of up to 80% on loans of up to £5m in value, interest free for the first 12 months, to help businesses access bank lending & overdrafts at favourable rates
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Available for UK based businesses with turnover of under £45m
Contact your bank or commercial lender |
Yes – the first loans are now available via accredited lenders. | |
| Covid Corporate Financing Facility
The Bank of England will buy short-term debt from larger companies to allow companies to finance short-term liabilities
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Via the Bank of England | Yes – this facility is now available | ||
| Bounce Back Loans
100% government guaranteed loans of between £2-50,000 with no fees or interest to pay for the first 12 months.
Loan terms will be up to 6 years. No repayments will be due during the first 12 months. The government will work with lenders to agree a low rate of interest for the remaining period of the loan.
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Small and medium-sized businesses. | The Bounce Back Loan scheme will launch on 4 May 2020. | ||
| Business Rates | Business Rates Holiday for Retail, Leisure & Hospitality Businesses The Government will provide English businesses in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors with 100% business rates relief for the 2020/21 tax year
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Available for businesses of all sizes in the
retail, leisure & hospitality sector
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You do not need to do anything – Shropshire Council will automatically apply
the 100% rates relief to your 2020 tax bill. |
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| Tax | VAT Deferment
The Government will defer VAT payments between 20th March & 30th June with businesses given until the end of the tax year to repay any liabilities that accumulate |
Available for businesses of all sizes and
sectors in the UK. |
The Government will apply this automatically | |
| Time to Pay
HMRC’s Time to Pay facility offers businesses and self–employed individuals in financial distress support to restructure payments and manage their tax affairs
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Available for all businesses and self-employed individuals that pay tax to the UK Government
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Requests are considered by HMRC on a case by case basis, contact their dedicated
support line on 0800 0159 559 |
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| Self Employed | Self-employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS)
The Government will provide a grant to self-employed individuals or partnerships, worth 80% of their profits up to a cap of £2,500 per month
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Available to those where the majority of their income comes from self-employment, who have profits of less than £50,000, and who filed a tax return for 2018/19. | HMRC will invite suitable people to apply. Grants are expected to start to be paid out by beginning of June 2020 | |
| Self-Assessed Income Tax Payments
The Government are deferring income tax payments due in July 2020 under the self-assessment system to January 2021 with no penalties or interest for late payment applied
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Available for all self-employed individuals | HMRC will offer this automatically to
self-employed individuals |
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| Universal Credit
The Government has confirmed that self-employed individuals will be able to access the equivalent of Statutory Sick Pay through Universal Credit. From 6 April the requirements of the Minimum Income Floor will be temporarily relaxed
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Available for all self-employed individuals
who are sick or self-isolating
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Applications can be made online via the
Department for Work & Pensions here |
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