t: +44 1224 618460              e: enquiries@infinity-partnership.com

18 Mar COVID-19 Advice

Posted at 20:12h in COVID-19 by

At Infinity Partnership we are taking the rise of COVID-19 very seriously and have put procedures in place to protect the wellbeing of our staff and clients. For the moment, we have some staff working remotely and have further plans ready to enact should they be required to ensure we can continue to support our clients through these difficult times.

 

Funding

As many you will have seen there are several support packages being put together by the Government including grants, loans, tax relief and rates relief. We are working closely with all the banks to ensure we can provide you all with the most up-to-date support as we can and have a team reviewing all information available to be passed on.

At the moment government-backed grants and loans are still going through the process of being set-up at government level which will then be fed down to the local authorities and banks. We are doing everything we can to ensure we get this information out to you all as soon as possible and are able to support you through these applications. Once these loans and grants are made available, we can support you with making applications for these through your business bank.

The banks across the board are waiving arrangement fees for COVID-19 support products and are streamlining the approval process. One piece of advice we are getting is that a requirement of these products is likely to be short-term cash forecast. Please get in touch with our office if you need assistance in preparing these or any other issues your business may need help with.

 

Rates Relief

The Chancellor announced a raft of new changes to business rates relief designed to support businesses dealing with hardship and disruption as a result of COVID-19. These changes come alongside recent announcements for further support in devolved UK authorities. Those claiming Small Business Rate Relief (SBBR) may now be eligible for a £25,000 grant, raised from £3000 at the Budget last week.

Recently announced changes also include increased business rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in central UK and devolved authorities;

  • England: All in these sectors will receive 100% retail business rates discount with existing RV threshold removed.
  • Wales: All in these sectors with RV between £51,000-£100,000 in Wales will receive 100% discount with new grant funds .available for SMEs.
  • Scotland: All in these sectors with RV of less than 69,000 will receive a 75% discount.

More detailed document on this has been provided separately.

 

BUSINESS RATES RELIEF – GUIDE (PDF)

 

IR35

The Government has confirmed that the implementation of IR35 has been deferred from April 2020 to April 2021 due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

 

Time to pay arrangement for outstanding tax liabilities

Since HMRC has a set up a phone helpline to support businesses and self-employed people concerned about not being able to pay their tax due to coronavirus (COVID-19) last week, SME businesses have started getting support to delay payment of their VAT and PAYE liabilities. Some have reported that HMRC is not asking for or only requiring minimal evidence and extending their payment deadlines for the foreseeable future.

The helpline allows any business or self-employed individual who is concerned about paying their tax due to coronavirus to get practical help and advice.

If you run a business or are self-employed and are concerned about paying your tax due to coronavirus, you can call HMRC’s helpline for help and advice: 0800 0159 559

For those who are unable to pay due to coronavirus, HMRC will discuss your specific circumstances to explore:

  • Agreeing an instalment arrangement.
  • Suspending debt collection proceedings.
  • Cancelling penalties and interest where you have administrative difficulties contacting or paying HMRC immediately.

 

The helpline number is 0800 0159 559 and is an addition to other HMRC phone contact numbers. The helpline is open from Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, and Saturday 8am to 4pm (excluding bank holidays).

 

Staying up to date

Our ethos at Infinity Partnership has always been that we are not just your accountants, but we are your partners in business and in these difficult times this has never been more important. We want to assure you all that we are doing everything we can to help you and should you have any question, big or small, please get in touch, we are here to help.

In the coming days we will be releasing various documents with support and help through various channels.

Please connect with our team on LinkedIn and Twitter using the following links.

 

Simon Cowie – Managing Director – https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-cowie-ab36714b/
Greg Houston – Associate Director – https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-houston-95900a42/
Mark Rhynas – Tax Manager – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-rhynas-att-1712265b/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/InfinityABDN