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19/03/2021

Three days to save your SEISS grant

If taxpayers don’t respond to HMRC’s email by 22 March they will be prevented from making further SEISS claims and may face an enquiry into the grants already received.

HMRC sent this email to a number of established self-employed traders on 26 February 2021, asking them to prove that they are still trading, before they can claim the next two SEISS grants.

Tax agents were not copied in to the email, so accountants may be unaware that their clients have been contacted in this way. The taxpayer may also have missed this important message as HMRC is not in the habit of sending emails directly to taxpayers.

The specific HMRC email about the SEISS grant is not detailed under ‘emails’ in the list of genuine HMRC contacts, so it's unsurprising that many may have considered it to be yet another scam.

However, it is important that the taxpayer reacts quickly, as if HMRC does not receive a response by Monday 22 March, the trader will be blocked from receiving further SEISS grants. HMRC has also threatened to open a formal compliance check (a tax enquiry) into the taxpayer’s tax affairs where no response is received to this single email.

The e-mail address is [email protected]

If you received anything with different details then do not trust it.

Contact HMRC directly if you are unsure using either 0800 024 1222 the business COVID line, or using HMRC's webchat.

24/09/2020

Following on from todays announcements.
A few key points:

The self employed grant will be extended. 20% based on previous criteria. Awaiting further info for claim dates, periods covered and any new criteria they may add.

A "pay as you grow" extension to the Bounce Back Loan scheme will give businesses 10 years to repay them

VAT cut to 5% for hospitality and tourism extended until the end of March

Vat and tax deferrals are to be extended. News on any new quarters covered are not yet clear.

Employees reduced to part time hours with help to pay them from the government. See the attached picture. The Job Support Scheme will begin in November and run for six months. The job retention bonus of £1000 per furloughed employee still employed is still covered if using the job support scheme.

08/07/2020

Today the Chancellor announced the introduction of the Job Retention Bonus.

This is a one-off payment of £1,000 to employers that have used the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) for each furloughed employee who remains continuously employed until 31‌‌‌ ‌January 2021. The bonus will provide additional support to retain employees.

To be eligible, employees will need to:

•Earn at least £520 per month (above the Lower Earnings Limit) on average for November, December and January
•Have been furloughed by you at any point and legitimately claimed for under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
•Have been continuously employed by you up until at least 31‌‌‌ ‌January 2021.
Employers will be able to claim the bonus from February 2021 once accurate RTI data to 31‌‌‌ ‌January has been received. More information about this scheme will be available by 31‌‌‌ ‌July and full guidance will be published in the Autumn.

Other new measures announced

The Chancellor also announced other measures, including:

The Eat Out to Help Out Scheme – during August, diners can get 50% off Monday to Wednesday on meals and non-alcoholic drinks, up to £10 per person, when eating at participating restaurants, bars, cafes and other establishments that have registered

VAT reduction – from 15‌‌‌ ‌July until 12‌‌‌ ‌January 2021, the UK government will cut VAT from 20% to 5% on any eat-in or hot takeaway food and drinks from restaurants, cafes and pubs, excluding alcohol. This VAT reduction also applies to all holiday accommodation in hotels, B&Bs, campsites and caravan sites, as well as attractions like cinemas, theme parks and zoos.

An increase in the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) threshold in England and Northern Ireland – increasing the threshold under which no SDLT is paid on the purchase of a main home from £125,000 to £500,000, with immediate effect until 31‌‌‌ ‌March 2021.

12/05/2020

Seen today. PLEASE DO NOT click on any links emailed or messaged etc. This is a scam. To claim the self employed grant go to the HMRC website. Login with your normal gateway ID and follow the steps. To find out if you are eligible and the date you can claim from go to their eligibility checker. You need to provide your UTR and NIN. It will then tell you what date slot you have been given. To try to reduce overloading the site they have split claim dates to start from the 13th (tomorrow) up to the 18th so far. Payment is made within 6 working days. The correct eligibility checker is on the gov.uk website and should look like the one in the comments.

17/04/2020

The employee furlough scheme has now been extended to cover 4 months (March to June). This is instead of the original 3 months to May.

Hopefully by considering and extending employee schemes, this could also mean a consideration to extend the self employed grant past the 18-19 tax year. This would help the tens of thousands of people, that currently fall in the gap of not having been self employed for 2 years or those that were earning more from employment than self employment in that year.
We will continue to follow for more updates.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2886098208140938&id=225268850890567?sfnsn=scwspmo&extid=XMDqCswB95xkPu6q

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been extended by one month to reflect the continuing lockdown measures. This will allow firms across the UK to continue protecting millions of jobs. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-extends-furlough-scheme-to-end-of-june

31/03/2020

A little more on furlough- if you recently changed jobs or were made redundant you can still get furloughed at 80% from the old employer. Ask the employer you were employed by at the end of february to furlough you. It is encouraged by the government, that they do this to support and they can claim the 80% back.

If you have multiple jobs you can be furloughed by one or all of them. Furloughed by one means you can not do any work for that employer. Not that you can not work for others. Being furloughed from multiple employers is also fine. The 80% of your normal pay up to £2500 limit applies to each job not as a total cap.

Furlough is for a minimum of 3 weeks. It can be extended straight after the 3 weeks for another 3 weeks and so on up to 3 months. The scheme will be open for 3 months currently but may be extended yet.
If after 3 weeks the employer has work for you to do, you can also return to work at 100%, then be put back on furlough after.