Category: Business Support

Kickstart Film And Television Production

At the end of July, the government announced the introduction of a new £500 million scheme to kickstart a film and the television production. The Film and TV Production Restart Scheme has now been launched and will help UK film and TV productions struggling to secure insurance for COVID-19 related costs. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/gad-helps-uk-film-and-tv-productions

This scheme will help TV and film productions that have been halted or delayed by a lack of the insurance to get back up and running by giving productions the confidence they need that they will be supported if future losses are incurred due to Covid-19.

As per the initial announcement, future claims made under the Scheme can be backdated to 28 July 2020. The Scheme will be available to both pre-existing eligible the productions and to new eligible productions.

The funding will be available to all qualifying the productions made by the companies where at least 50% of the production budget is spent in the UK. There will be a fee to participate in the scheme and a limit to the maximum claim allowable.

The commencement of the scheme is conditional upon the European Commission providing State Aid approval. The scheme rules are also subject to change. 

The Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) helped to deliver a project which provides £500m to the UK film and TV productions adversely affected by COVID-19. The Film and TV Production Restart Scheme were set up with the help of modelling and actuarial expertise provided by GAD.

TV and film industries had stopped work during the lockdown. However, once that was the lifted it became apparent there was incomplete insurance cover available and this meant the productions found it virtually impossible to continue filming or to acquire finance.

Most of the businesses have successfully survived during the pandemic so  far without laying-off most of their staff due to the Government’s Job Retention and Support Schemes.

This was possible though The Job Retention Scheme https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme which in ending in October and then The Job Support Schemes (JSS).

The Government’s contribution to furloughed costs has been reducing phase-wise in the recent months, and at the end of October the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (loosely referred to as the furlough scheme) is closing down .

The Chancellor outlined his follow up plan for The Job Support Schemes (JSS) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/921389/Job_Support_Scheme_Factsheet.pdf  and the response from employers has been less than enthusiastic due to the fact that overall situation of the economy is not in good shape.

The JSS requires employers to employ staff for at least 33% of their normal hours, pay one-third towards any furloughed time and cover NIC and pension costs. On this basis, employers would be paying more to keep three staff working part-time, each working one-third of their normal hours, than employing one person working full time.

Employers will therefore need to consider their options. Should they soldier on, attempting to keep the team together with Government support, or is it time to take a look at what the future trading position of the company is likely to be and plan accordingly?

Readers finding themselves unable to decide which way to jump may need to step back and take a fresh look at their options. To do this it may be necessary to create a detailed business plan or revise existing forecasts based on the evolving situation.

One thing is clear, the present COVID disruption seems unlikely to disappear any time soon. From 1 January 2020, we will need to cope with Brexit issues and the Chancellor keeps reminding us that the cost of funding coronavirus grants will need to be paid for.

We can help. Please call if you would like to discuss the best way to approach this challenging planning process.

The Winter Economy Plan – Summary Of Measures

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has today delivered a statement to the House of Commons outlining plans to help protect jobs across the UK whilst the country faces a resurgence of coronavirus and winter of uncertainty. The Chancellor was facing mounting pressure to reveal future changes as many of the schemes and reliefs previously announced are coming to an end including the furlough scheme at the end of October.

The winter economy Plan It has also been confirmed that the Budget that was expected to be delivered in the autumn will now take place next year. The measures announced today are more clearly focused on keeping the economy ticking over during the coming weeks and months.

The winter economy Plan main focus of the Chancellor’s announcements is a new Job Support Scheme and an extension to the Self Employment Income Support Scheme as well as additional flexibilities for businesses who have borrowed money as a result of the pandemic.

Details of these announcements follow:

Job Support Scheme

• A new 6-month scheme starting from 1 November 2020.
• This scheme has been designed to support viable jobs and employees must work at least one-third of their hours, paid as normal, in order to qualify for the scheme. The government and employer will then each cover one-third of any remaining hours the employee is not working.
• Employees will therefore forego one-third of their pay for the hours that they have not been working. This means that employees working a minimum of one-third of their hours will still receive at least 77% of their pay.
• The level of the grant will be calculated based on an employee’s usual salary but subject to a cap.
• The Chancellor said that the scheme will be open to all small and medium-sized businesses, but larger businesses will only qualify when their turnover has fallen as a result of the pandemic.
• You can still use this scheme even if you have not previously participated in the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
• The previously announced Job Retention Bonus, allowing qualifying businesses to claim a £1,000 for each CJRS participating employee, will remain. Employers can claim both the Job Retention Bonus and funding through the Job Support Scheme.

Self-Employment Income Support Scheme extension

• The Chancellor announced additional help for the self-employed based on similar terms and conditions as the new Jobs Support Scheme.
• The extended scheme will apply for 6 months from 1 November 2020 with an initial taxable grant made available to those who continue to trade and are currently eligible for SEISS.
• The initial lump sum will cover three months of profits from 1 November 2020 calculated as 20% of average monthly profits, up to a total of £1,875.
• An additional second grant will be available from 1 February 2021 to 30 April 2021, but the level of this second grant amount is subject to review.

Loan deadlines extended

• Businesses that have taken out a Bounce Back Loan will be able to benefit from a new Pay As You Grow flexible repayment system.
• This will include an extension in the loan term from six to ten years. There will also be new options for interest-only repayments for up to six months as well as payment holidays.
• The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans will also have their Government guarantee extended to ten years.
• The deadline for applying for all the Government’s coronavirus loan schemes will be standardised and pushed back until 30 November 2020.
• A new successor loan guarantee programme is also expected to be introduced early next year.

New VAT Payment Scheme

• Businesses had the option to defer the payment of any VAT liabilities due between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020.
• The deferred payment was due to be paid in full to HMRC by 31 March 2021.
• The Chancellor has now confirmed that businesses will instead be able to make 11 smaller interest-free payments during the 2021-22 financial year.

Self-Assessment payment deadlines

• Taxpayers that were due to make their second payment on account for the 2019-20 tax year had the option to have the payment due date deferred until 31 January 2021.
• It will now be possible to benefit from a separate additional 12-month extension from HMRC on the “Time to Pay” self-service facility for this payment and also for payments due in January 2021 extending the deadline until January 2022.

VAT reduction for hospitality and tourism sector

• The VAT reduction that was announced as part of the Summer Economic update was scheduled to end on 12th January 2021.
• The end date for the VAT cut has now been extended until 31 March 2021 to give the affected sectors more time to adjust to the difficult trading conditions. This means that VAT charged on food, accommodation and attractions (such as eat-in or takeaway food in restaurants, cafes and pubs, cinemas, theme parks and zoos) will see VAT reduced from 20% to 5% until the end of March 2021.

The new incentives announced today should be welcomed as the government continues to try and cope with this unprecedented pandemic. Managing the economic ramifications are causing great difficulties for many people and businesses across the country. These steps, at least, give affected businesses and individuals a degree of certainty as to the level of government assistance available to them throughout the coming months.

As more details emerge on the various schemes announced today we will update you further.

Putting Your Business Assets On The Back Burner

Many business owners are now faced with challenges of preserving their Asset and Resources these days due to COVID-19 crisis.

There is a temptation to sell off assets that are under-utilized due to the present COVID disruption. If assets are readily converted into cash this sell-off process could make a welcome contribution to cashflow.

Mothballing your entire business is another matter…

If you could stop trading and place all of your business assets – including your work-force – into hibernation, then perhaps you could close your doors and wait-out the coronavirus epidemic.

Unfortunately, most businesses have significant costs that cannot be canceled. These fixed costs, for example, rent, rates, and insurances, will need to be paid even if you are closed for business.
But, for those businesses that have limited the fixed costs – say businesses run from home – mothballing may be a way to protect your business from extinction while you find other paid-for work to tide you over?

In this way you could reawaken your “sleeping beauty” business when we can once again contemplate business life without the concerns of lock-down, masks and social distancing.

Changes In Furlough Scheme September 2020

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is closing on 31 October 2020. The scheme moved to a more flexible working arrangement from 1 July 2020 to allow employees to resume part-time working and to begin to ease employers away from their reliance on the scheme.

These changes continued with effect from 1 September when government support for the scheme was reduced from 80% to 70% of usual wages up to a cap of £2,187.50 per month for the hours furloughed employees do not work. Employees will also have to continue to cover employers’ NIC and pension costs for the hours the employee does not work. From October 2020, the government support for the scheme will be reduced further to 60%, with state support for furloughed workers reduced to a maximum of £1,875 with the same rules for NIC and pension costs.

Since the furlough scheme was introduced, many employers have been topping up the government support payments. Employers can of course continue to top up employee wages above the relevant percentage caps for the hours not worked at their own expense. This is obviously becoming more expensive as government support for the scheme tapers off. Employers have to pay their employees for the hours worked as normal.

Once the furlough scheme ends, a new Job Retention Bonus will start. The bonus payment has been designed to help encourage employers to bring back furloughed workers. The new bonus scheme will provide a £1,000 bonus payment to employers that bring back an employee that was furloughed, and continuously employ them for at least 3 months after the end of the CJRS…

If you cannot maintain your workforce because your operations have been affected by a coronavirus (COVID-19), you can furlough employees and apply for a grant to cover a portion of their usual monthly wage costs where you record them as being on furlough.

There are a number of tax reliefs available for self-employed taxpayers that make a loss carrying on their trade, profession or vocation (collectively referred to as a ‘trade’) and for their share of trading loss for any partnerships they are involved with.

For the 2020-21 tax year, trade losses can be relieved in a number of ways. This includes the following:

• By using the loss to reduce income for the year ended 5 April 2020 and/or 5 April 2019. If there are still trade losses remaining (after your income has been reduced to nil) then you may be able to set off some or all of the remaining loss against chargeable gains.
• A claim can also be made for losses made in the first 4 years of trade known as early trade losses relief. Taxpayers need to look at the earliest year first (i.e. 2016-17) and use any remaining loss in 2017-18 and then in 2018-19. The time limit for making claims for 2019 to 2020 losses is 31 January 2022.
• Taxpayers can carry forward any loss against future profits of the same trade or income from the company (where you transfer your trade to a company in exchange for shares in that company), or post-cessation receipts
• Terminal loss relief is available for businesses that suffer a loss in the last 12 months of trade of a business. Terminal loss relief allows for the carry back of any trading losses that occur in the final 12 months of trading to be set off against profits made during the final tax year or any or all of the previous three tax years.
• Self-employed taxpayers who were previously employed can offset trading losses against employment earnings or other earned income in the current or preceding tax year.

There is also an overall cap on certain Income Tax reliefs. The cap is set at 25% of income or £50,000, whichever is the greater.

Green Homes Grants

A reminder that homeowners and landlords can now access funding to help pay for the cost of energy-saving improvements.

In a recent press release the Department for the Business, Energy & the Industrial Strategy said:

Homeowners and landlords can, since Friday 28 August, see for themselves how the government’s new Green Homes Grants scheme can help make their homes warmer and more energy-efficient.

The Business and Energy Secretary Alok Sharma today unveiled a new opportunity for consumers to get tips for making their homes more energy efficient, and details of how the Green Homes Grant scheme can make installations cheaper. These will be available on a revamped Simple Energy Advice website.

The site offers a quick energy survey for consumers to see how energy efficient their homes already are, and where improvements can be made. Taking as little as 5 minutes, once completed homeowners and landlords can receive a personalised energy plan.

The Green Home Grants scheme, due to open by the end of September, will allow the consumers to obtain funding for up to two-thirds of the cost of the energy saving measures identified – up to £5000 – in the form of new vouchers. Lower-income households could be entitled to have as much as £10,000 of the costs covered.

The scheme will cover green home improvements including insulation of walls, floors and roofs, the installation of double or triple glazing when replacing single glazing, and low-carbon heating. These measures could help families save up to £600 a year on their energy bills.

The Simple Energy Advice website then offers people access to fully accredited tradespeople in their area able to carry out the work needed, so they can get quotes ready for when the vouchers become available.

If you’re a homeowner or residential landlord you can use a Green Homes Grant voucher towards the cost of installing energy efficient improvements to your home.

Cars – It’s All Online if you have access to the internet there are a bewildering number of online resources that you can access to help you manage recurring tasks. This week we have listed a number of these with links to the relevant website pages.

1. Book a theory test – https://www.gov.uk/book-theory-test
2. Get cars or vehicle information from DVLA – https://www.gov.uk/get-vehicle-information-from-dvla
3. Tell DVLA if you have sold, transferred or bought a vehicle – https://www.gov.uk/sold-bought-vehicle
4. View or share your driving license information, useful when you hire a car – https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence
5. Check MOT status of a vehicle – https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-status
6. Book your driving test – https://www.gov.uk/book-driving-test
7. Check if a cars or vehicle is taxed – https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax
8. Tax your vehicle – https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax
9. Check the MOT history of a vehicle – https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

Another tip for motorists unrelated to the above services is that many insurance companies have been offering discounts to drivers – who because of COVID-19 restrictions have limited mileage on the clock – obviously, the less you drive the lower the risk of claims. Worth a call to your broker or insurance company.

You can use this service to check details about a vehicle, including:

• vehicle tax – the current rate and when it expires
• SORN status
• when its MOT expires
• the date it was first registered
• last log book (V5C) issue date
• year of manufacture
• type approval category
• weight
• engine size
• fuel type
• emissions – CO2, real driving emissions level and European status
• export status