The Chancellor has announced the government package to support jobs and incomes during the public health emergency caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.
All employers will be able to apply for a grant from HMRC to cover the wages of people who are not working due to coronavirus shutdowns, but whose employment hasn’t ended.
It will cover 80% of the salaries of these retained workers, up to £2,500 per month.
- Coronavirus job retention scheme
- All employers eligible for scheme
- Covers all workers on PAYE
- Contact HMRC to cover wages of people who are on payroll
- Grants will cover 80% of salary
- Up to £2,500 a month
- Employers can top up further
- Workers can retain jobs
- Backdated to March 1st
- Open for at least 3 months
- No limit on the amount of funding available for the scheme
- First grants within weeks
- Businesses should be able to receive payments by the end of April
This means that employees in a company can retain their jobs, even if the company cannot afford to pay them, the Chancellor explains. This will include those on zero hours contracts, and anyone paying tax through PAYE.
The Government also announced measures to support the self-employed including:
- Suspending the minimum income floor for Universal Credit
- Increasing the Universal Credit standard allowance by £1,000, for the next 12 months and the Working Tax Credit basic element.
- Increasing access to Universal Credit and paying it at the same rate as SSP for employees
- Deferring the next self-assessment payment to January 2021
Further Business Support
The Chancellor also announced a £30bn cash injection into the economy through the following measures:
- The next quarter of business VAT payments will be deferred to the end of June
- Businesses will have to the end of the financial year to pay business VAT bill (April 2021)
- Business rates for hospitality, retail, leisure have been abolished to the end of the year
- Extension of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan scheme to be interest free for 12 months (up from 6)
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