Additional Government support for businesses and the self-employed including Tier 2 business grants
The Chancellor announced yesterday, 22 October 2020, further changes to grants available to businesses impacted by COVID-19. These are summarised as follows:
Tier 2 business grants
A new grant scheme for businesses impacted by Tier 2 restrictions has been announced by the Chancellor. This will also apply to those businesses that are not legally closed.
These grants will be provided to local authorities, wo will have the discretion in deciding how to distribute these funds, based on local economic circumstances.
This grant funding is reported to be adequate to provide all business premises in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors a direct grant. This will be worth up to £2,100 each month where Tier 2 restrictions apply.
These Tier 2 grants are 70% of the value of the those available for closed businesses in Tier 3. They are also retrospective, meaning any businesses which has been under enhanced restrictions in any area can backdate their claims to August 2020.
Further information is due to be published by the Government shortly, including how to claim.
Increased grants under the Job Support Scheme for business forced to close
Changes have also been announced to the Job Support Scheme. Where businesses are legally required to close, the Government will now cover the full cost of employers paying people two thirds of their salary, in circumstances where they cannot work for a week or more.
Where businesses can legally open, employees now only have to work for 20% of their hours (previously the scheme required employees to work for 33% of their normal hour). Employer contribution for the hours not worked have been reduced to 5%, reduced form the 33%, as originally planned. This scheme applies to eligible businesses across all alert levels.
Increased payments under the Self Employed Income Support Scheme
The third change announced was in providing additional support for the self-employed.
The next round of the self-employed income support scheme is now being doubled from the previously announced 20% of peoples’ incomes, to 40%. This increases the maximum grant to £3,750.
HMRC is yet to provide full details about claiming, guidance will be provided on GOV.UK, once available.
Tier 2 business grants and other announced changes
We will update our website with further details of the above schemes, together with a summary of the existing schemes, as further information becomes available.
How Alexander & Co can assist
Information on how the Government is helping businesses impacted by COVID-19 can be found on their website here. Additional information will be uploaded to the Government website in due course and we will keep you updated as further information is published.
For any advice or assistance, contact our dedicated team of accountants. Our accountants are here to provide you with all aspects of tax and business growth advice to help your business thrive in the current climate.
Call us on 0161 832 4841, email info@alexander.co.uk or simply fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch shortly.
