New Year, New Plans – how to prepare for the year ahead

With the start of a new year, we all look to plan ahead and whilst there still remains a large amount of uncertainty on what 2021 might bring, we wanted to provide some guidance on what assistance is still available and any other areas of consideration to help you prepare for the year ahead.

As always, we are here to offer our support so please get in touch if you require any support.

Grant Support

The third Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant is open for applications

The third Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant is available for those who have been impacted by COVID-19 on or after 1 November 2020. Applicants must use the online eligibility checker before submitting an application, even if they did not make a claim for the first or second grant. You can read more about the eligibility requirements and how to make a claim here. You must make your claim on or before 29 January 2021.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme update

On 17 December 2020, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced plans to extend the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) until the end of April 2021. The criteria will remain unchanged, following the same guidelines that are currently in place with the government continuing to pay 80% of unworked hours for furloughed employees, up to £2,500 per month. Flexible furloughing will still be permitted and employers are still able to choose to top up employee wages at their own expense if they wish. You can read more on the extension and the deadline dates for submissions here.

Strategic Framework Business Fund

Businesses that are required to close by law will be able to claim up to £3,000 every four weeks through the Strategic Framework Business Fund (SFBF). Applications to the SFBF should be made through your local authority website with the grants paid every four weeks in arrears. You can read more about the SFBF here.

On 11 January, the Scottish Government announced one-off grants from £6,000 to £25,000 for eligible hospitality, retail and leisure businesses in addition to the SFBF payments. There is no separate application, in most cases those already claiming through the SFBF will automatically receive their top up payment on 25 January. If you haven’t applied for the SFBF and are eligible, we advise you do so as soon as possible. You can read more here.

Pivotal Event Business Fund

The Pivotal Event Businesses Fund provides grants from £25,000, up to a maximum of £150,000, to support event businesses whose primary role is critical to the survival of the events sector in Scotland. The fund temporarily reopened for further applications on Wednesday 13 January until 5pm on Monday 18 January 2021. Eligible businesses can start the application process by submitting an Expression of Interest before the deadline. You can find out more and submit an Expression of Interest here.

Loan Support

All government-backed loans extended until March 2021

Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed that all the government-backed loans, include the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the Future Fund, will be extended until the end of March 2021. You can read more on this here.

Tax Support

VAT Payment Deferral

For businesses that deferred their VAT payments, due from 20 March 2020 to 30 June 2020, until the end of March 2021, they now have the option to pay in smaller increments over a longer period. The new deferral scheme allows you to pay in 11 monthly payments throughout the year to the end of March 2022 with no interest charged. Unlike the first deferral of VAT which did not require any application or notification, you will need to opt-in to use this new deferral scheme which is due to be announced in the coming months. You can read more about the eligibility criteria here.

Enhanced Time to Pay Arrangements

HMRC announced an Enhanced Time to Pay arrangement for any individual Self Assessment taxpayer with a tax liability of up to £30,000, an increase from £10,000. They will be able to set up a payment plan to allow the tax liability to be paid in monthly instalments for up to twelve months which can also include any outstanding tax from 2019/20 along with the deferred payment on account bill from July 2020. However, interest will be charged from 1 February 2021 for any liability outstanding, until the debt is fully paid. You can read more and set this up here.

Other Considerations

Obviously one of the biggest changes going into this year is the end of the Brexit transition period, and despite the ongoing pandemic, new legislation has been introduced in relation to trading and traveling to the EU from 1 January 2021. The UK Government has issued guidance and developed a new Brexit checker that you can use to check if you need to implement any changes. You can use this and view the guidance here.

We have previously discussed our expectations on what the Budget on 3 March 2021 might include and we suggest you prepare as best you can for any upcoming changes. You can read what we expect to be announced here. If you want to discuss your own circumstances, our EQ Taxperts would be happy to help.

As always, we are here to offer our support during these challenging times. If you would like to discuss any of these support measures or would like advice on your situation, please get in touch with your usual EQ contact or call one of our offices.