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AIMS Accountants – Information for Clients – Coronavirus Support Update

/ Business and Economy, Government

Author: Henry Ejdelbaum

Tags: Coronavirus, covid-19, job support scheme, SEISS

Today, Chancellor Rishi Sunak made new announcements regarding changes to the support for jobs and businesses. Below outlines the major changes, which will come in to play at the end of this month.

Job Support Scheme (JSS)

The scheme is to protect jobs in industries that are particularly struggling due to Covid e.g. entertainment, hospitality etc. These updates replace the announcements made last week.

FOR ALL TIER LEVELS:

  • New scheme starts on 1 November 2020, when current furlough scheme ends
  • The scheme will last for 6 months, with a review in 3 months (end Jan)
  • Businesses will be able to make their claims from December

THE BIG CHANGES:

  • Employee now only needs to work 20% of time (down from 33%) in order to be eligible.
  • Employer now only contributes 5% of salary for hours not worked, down from 33% before.

TIER 3 ONLY*:

For business that are legally required to close, the government will pay the full 67% of the employees’ wages where the employee cannot work for a week or more.

Self-Employed Income Support Scheme

The government will now cover an average of 40% of lost profits. This is an increase from 20% previously.
This means that the maximum grant for the first three month grant period will increase from £1,875 to £3,750.
This grant is not retrospective and will apply from 1 November 2020.

Monthly government grants to businesses

TIER 2* – Any business in Tier 2 that faces any type of restrictions e.g. hospitality, accommodation and leisure, can now claim a monthly grant of up to £2,100 backdated to August.

These grants are allocated by the local authority who will distribute the funds

For further information, please contact your local AIMS accountant

*Please note that the Tier 1-3 system only applies to England. Scotland are due to announce their five-level tier system in due course, and Wales are currently in a 16-day “Firebreak” lockdown. For further information regarding businesses in these regions, contact you local accountant.