Covid19 Resources

CJRS extension: Get the details right

Kate Upcraft explains what employers and tax agents need to know about the new version of the coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS.3) which will apply from November 2020 to March 2021.

6th Nov 2020

The policy paper that accompanied Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement on 5 November provides us with a little more information, but it promises that more guidance will be produced on Tuesday 10 November. A further announcement will detail whether the full 80% employer funding will continue from January to the end of the scheme.

Weekly payrolls

The first weekly payrolls for November have already been run, when there was no indication of what reference pay or usual hours calculation was to be used for employees who had not been furloughed previously. Hopefully the new guidance will allow corrections to be made next week and before the vast majority of monthly payrolls are run.

Pay reference periods

For employees eligible for the previous iterations of the CJRS, the reference pay remains as the calculation for CJRS.2 that ended on 31 October. This is the case even if the employer did not make a claim for the employee.

Other employees may be now eligible for CJRS.3 as they either:

had earnings for 2019/20 reported on a full payment submission (FPS) from 20 March 2020 to 19 April 2020 (19 April being the deadline for 2019/20 submissions); or
had earnings for 2020/21 reported on a full payment submission from 6 April 2020 to 30 October 2020

The pay reference period will be:

for fixed-rate employees the last pay period on or before 30 October 2020.
for variable pay employees the average over the period from 6 April 2020 to last pay period on, or before, the day before they were furloughed under CJRS.3.

Note: Fixed-rate employees can be treated as variable if they have lots of fluctuating additional pay such as overtime.

Is it fair?

The calculation of reference pay appears more generous for variable-paid than for fixed-rate employees. Any pay rises from 1 November to start of furlough will be ignored for fixed rate employees, but pay will be included in the average for variable pay employees over (potentially) a much longer period if the business doesn’t need to furlough immediately under CJRS.3.

Conversely there doesn’t appear to be the option to use the pay period before the start of furlough if that was higher than the average for a variable pay employee.

There is also a strange outcome where an employee began work in October, as a fixed rate employee on say national minimum wage; they would be furloughed on £8.72 per hour, whereas a colleague employed since February 2020 would only be furloughed based on £8.21 per hour.

Owner managed businesses

Directors who reported their annual payment for 2019/20 to HMRC after 19 March 2020 will now be included in CJRS.3 having been excluded up until 31 October. The rate of earnings reported in the period from 20 March to 30 October 2020 can be claimed, subject to the £2,500 monthly pay cap. Remember this £2,500 cap is pro-rated to the number of furloughed hours as a proportion of usual hours.

With the ability to flexi-furlough being in place from 1 November 2020 this will be more attractive to such directors, but we still face the conundrum of trying to be able to evidence usual hours to support the claim.

Usual hours

For previously eligible employees the usual hours remain as per the calculation for CJRS.2 that ended on 31 October. This is the case even if the employer did not make a claim for the employee.

For newly eligible employees, usual hours will be:

for fixed rate employees the contracted hours worked in the last pay period ending on or before 30 October 2020.
for variable pay employees the average hours worked between 6 April 2020 and the day before they were furloughed under CJRS.3

The usual hours are based on calendar days in the claim period.

Claim deadline

One of the most concerning differences from the CJRS.2 is the fact that claims for the prior month have to be made by the 14th day of the following month. Thus, claims up to 30 November have to be claimed by 14 December.

This will put an enormous burden on employers and agents and may prove impossible where payments for the month of November are paid in arrears in December with timesheets having to be collated. We will have to see whether an estimated claim is worth making by the deadline, and whether HMRC will allow corrections after 14th of each month.

Claims will be able to be made in advance (I assume as now 14 days before payday) and will pay out within six days. The new claim portal will open at 8am on 11 November.

Employers are not required to submit their RTI returns before making a claim, so we appear to have returned to the ‘pay now check later’ model. There is also no mention in the policy paper of informing employees that their employer has claimed on their behalf as had been the intention with the JSS, but employers using the scheme will be named.

Rehires

Individuals who had a date of leaving reported after the 23 September 2020 can be reinstated if the employer so chooses.

Contract changes

The government has recognised that it has been impossible to put in place furlough agreements from 1 November, given that employers were not aware what the reference pay period would be. Contract changes can be backdated to 1 November 2020 but must be issued by 13 November 2020, but as the new guidance is promised on 10 November this could be challenging.

Claim periods will cover a minimum of seven days and I assume orphan periods will be a feature of the new scheme, where a week split is over two calendar months, meaning there will be less than seven days in the claims. This should be okay as long as it’s preceded or followed by a seven day period of furlough.

Schemes scrapped

The job support scheme will not be coming into effect this tax year and the job retention bonus has been scrapped.

What hasn’t changed from CJRS.1 and CJRS.2?

All employment rights continue during furlough, eg accrual of holiday pay and leave.
Employees can be included in a CJRS claim when they are off sick, and must be paid at least the level of SSP. Employers can choose to either pay SSP only or furlough pay, and clearly the latter is more beneficial to the employee and employer.
Employers can top up furlough pay but aren’t obliged to.
Employers will still be liable for employer’s NIC and pension contributions for any unworked hours
Employees can train, volunteer, or work for another employer whilst furloughed

By Accounting Web

NATIONAL RESTRICTIONS: FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR JOBS AND BUSINESSES

Thursday 5 November

• The Government is announcing that it will:

o Extend the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme further, until the end of March

o Not pay the Job Retention Bonus in February but instead redeploy a retention incentive at the right time

o Increase the third self-employed grant, covering November to January, from 55% to 80% of trading profits.

o Increase the upfront guarantee of funding for the devolved administrations from £14bn to £16bn, on top of their Spring Budget 20 funding.

• This comes on top of the extensive support already announced:

o Cash grants of up to £3,000 per month for businesses which are closed in England

o £1.1 billion for councils in England to further support businesses more broadly over the coming months

o Extension of existing loan schemes to the end of January and an ability to top-up Bounce Back Loans

o An extension to the mortgage payment holiday for homeowners

o Providing councils in England with up to £500 million of funding to support the local healthcare response

o Over £200 billion on VAT relief, business rate relief, loans, tax deferrals, and support for individuals Extending the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme (CJRS)

• We recently announced the extension of the CJRS from 1 November until 2 December. As we saw from the first lockdown, the economic effects are much longer lasting for businesses and areas than the duration of any restrictions.

• Today, we are extending the CJRS until the end of March for all parts of the UK. We will review the policy in January to decide whether economic circumstances are improving enough to ask employers to contribute more. The Job Support Scheme is postponed.

• Eligible employees will receive 80% of their usual salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.

o Employer flexibility: Businesses will have flexibility to use the scheme for employees for any amount of time and shift pattern, including furloughing them full-time.

o Employer contribution: There will be NO employer contribution to wages for hours not worked. Employers will only be asked to cover National Insurance and Employer pension contributions for hours not worked. For an average claim, this accounts for just 5% of total employment costs or £70 per employee per month. We will review the policy in January to decide whether economic circumstances are improving enough to ask employers to contribute more.

o Payment: The extended CJRS will operate as the previous Scheme did, with businesses being able to claim either shortly before, during or after running payroll. Claims can be made from 8am Wednesday 11 November. Claims made for November must be submitted to HMRC by no-later than 14 December 2020. Claims relating to each subsequent month should be submitted by day 14 of the following month, to ensure prompt claims following the end of the month which is the subject of the claim.

o Employee eligibility: Neither the employer nor the employee needs to have previously claimed or have been claimed for under CJRS to make a claim under the extended CJRS (if other eligibility criteria are met). An employer can claim for employees who were employed and on their PAYE payroll on 30 October 2020. The employer must have made a PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) submission to HMRC between 20 March 2020 and 30 October 2020, notifying a payment of earnings for that employee.

o Employees that are re-employed: Employees that were employed and on the payroll on 23 September 2020 (the day before the Job Support Scheme announcement) who were made redundant or stopped working afterwards can be re-employed and claimed for. The employer must have made an RTI submission to HMRC from 20 March 2020 to 23 September 2020, notifying a payment of earnings for those employees.

o HMRC will publish details of employers who make claims from December onwards under the extended scheme. Full details of this will be within the detailed guidance to be published next week.

o Further details on how to claim are available today on gov.uk and full guidance will be published on Tuesday 10 November.

Job Retention Bonus (JRB)

• The JRB will not be paid in February and we will redeploy a retention incentive at the appropriate time. The purpose of the JRB was to encourage employers to keep people in work until the end of January. However, as the CJRS is being extended to the end of March, the policy intent of the JRB falls away.

More help for the self-employed

• We recently announced an extension of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme to support self-employed individuals who are experiencing reduced demand or cannot trade due to the effect of coronavirus. We then doubled the support from 40% to 80% of trading profits for November, which increased the overall level of the grant to 55% of trading profits.

• Today, the Government is announcing that we are increasing the overall level of the grant to 80% of trading profits covering November to January for all parts of the UK. This provides equivalent support to the self-employed as we are providing to employees through the government contribution in the CJRS. It is calculated based on 80% of 3 months’ average trading profits, paid out in a single instalment and capped at £7,500.

• This is £7.3 billion of support to the self-employed through November to January alone, with a further grant to follow covering February to April. This comes on top of £13.7 billion of support for self-employed people so far, one of the most comprehensive and generous support packages for the self-employed anywhere in the world.

• Timing: HMRC will pay this more generous grant sooner than planned and in good time for Christmas – the window for claiming a grant will open on 30 November, two weeks earlier than previously announced.

• The Government has already announced that there will be a fourth SEISS grant covering February to April. The Government will set out further details, including the level, of the fourth grant in due course.

Guarantee loan schemes

• We have announced that we plan to extend the application deadline for loan schemes – that is, the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, Future Fund, and Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme – to the end of January 2021. This will give businesses two extra months to make loan applications (relative to the current deadline of 30 November)

• We will also adjust the Bounce Back Loan Scheme rules to allow those businesses who have borrowed less than their maximum (i.e. the lower of £50,000 or less than 25% of their turnover) to top-up their existing loan. Businesses will be able to take-up this option from next week; they can make use of this option once. We understand that some businesses didn’t anticipate the disruption to their business from the pandemic would go on for this long; this will ensure that they are able to benefit from the loan scheme as intended.

Mortgage and consumer credit payment holiday extension

• Mortgage payment holidays will continue to be available for homeowners in the UK. Borrowers who have been impacted by coronavirus and have not yet had a mortgage payment holiday will be entitled to a 6- month holiday and those that have already started a mortgage payment holiday will be able to top up to 6 months without this being recorded on their credit file. The FCA published draft guidance setting this out on 2 November. Payment holidays will also continue to be available for consumer credit products such as personal loans and car finance. As with mortgages, borrowers impacted by coronavirus who have not yet taken a payment holiday on that product can ask for one of up to 6 months and those that currently have a payment holiday will be eligible to top up to six months without this being recorded on their credit file. Borrowers with high-cost short-term credit products such as payday loans will continue to be entitled to a maximum month payment holiday. The FCA published draft guidance on this on 4 November.

Northern Ireland

• Extension of CJRS, SEISS grants, loans and mortgage holidays are all UK-wide.

• The UK government has already provided the devolved administrations with unprecedented upfront funding guarantees above their Spring Budget 2020 funding so they have the certainty they need to decide how and when to provide support. Including today's uplift, we are guaranteeing at least 16bn in funding this year on top of their Spring Budget 2020 funding: Northern Ireland Executive – £2.8 billion.

Recap of existing economic support for people and businesses

• Reduced VAT for hospitality, accommodation and attractions until the end of March 2021
• Business rates relief for hospitality, retail, leisure and nurseries until the end of March 2021 in England
• The £20 per week increase to Universal Credit standard allowance, increases to Local Housing Allowance until the end of March 2021 – collectively worth over £7 billion this year
• The £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund and £750 million for charities
• £500 payments for those on low incomes in England who are asked to self-isolate for 14 days, and £500 million Hardship Fund for local authorities to use to help the most vulnerable
• Millions of discounted, government backed loans
• Extensive tax deferrals for general tax, VAT and Income Tax Self-Assessment

Furlough Scheme Extended and Further Economic Support announced

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been extended for a month with employees receiving 80% of their current salary for hours not worked and further economic support announced.

Published 31 October 2020

From: HM Treasury

People and businesses across the UK are being provided with additional financial support as part of the government’s plan for the next phase of its response to the coronavirus outbreak, the Prime Minister announced today (31 October).

Throughout the crisis the government’s priority has been to protect lives and livelihoods. Today the Prime Minister said the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) - also known as the Furlough scheme - will remain open until December, with employees receiving 80% of their current salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500. Under the extended scheme, the cost for employers of retaining workers will be reduced compared to the current scheme, which ends today. This means the extended furlough scheme is more generous for employers than it was in October.

In addition, business premises forced to close in England are to receive grants worth up to £3,000 per month under the Local Restrictions Support Grant. Also, £1.1bn is being given to Local Authorities, distributed on the basis of £20 per head, for one-off payments to enable them to support businesses more broadly.

To give homeowners peace of mind too, mortgage holidays will also no longer end today.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said:

Over the past eight months of this crisis we have helped millions of people to continue to provide for their families. But now - along with many other countries around the world - we face a tough winter ahead.

I have always said that we will do whatever it takes as the situation evolves. Now, as restrictions get tougher, we are taking steps to provide further financial support to protect jobs and businesses. These changes will provide a vital safety net for people across the UK.

Job Retention Scheme

Employers small or large, charitable or non-profit, are eligible for the extended Job Retention Scheme, which will continue for a further month.

Businesses will have flexibility to bring furloughed employees back to work on a part time basis or furlough them full-time, and will only be asked to cover National Insurance and employer pension contributions which, for the average claim, accounts for just 5% of total employment costs.

The Job Support Scheme, which was scheduled to come in on Sunday 1st November, has been postponed until the furlough scheme ends.

Additional guidance will be set out shortly.

Mortgage Holidays

Mortgage payment holidays will no longer end today. Borrowers who have been impacted by coronavirus and have not yet had a mortgage payment holiday will be entitled to a six month holiday, and those that have already started a mortgage payment holiday will be able to top up to six months without this being recorded on their credit file.

The FCA will announce further information on Monday.

Business Grants

Businesses required to close in England due to local or national restrictions will be eligible for the following:

For properties with a rateable value of £15k or under, grants to be £1,334 per month, or £667 per two weeks;
For properties with a rateable value of between £15k-£51k grants to be £2,000 per month, or £1,000 per two weeks;
For properties with a rateable value of £51k or over grants to be £3,000 per month, or £1,500 per two weeks.

Today’s announcements are only part of the government’s world-leading economic response to coronavirus – the largest package of emergency support in post-war history – to protect, create and support jobs.

The furlough scheme protected over nine million jobs across the UK, and self-employed people have received over £13 billion in support. This is in addition to billions of pounds in tax deferrals and grants for businesses.

Further information

GRANTS

Business grant policy is fully devolved. Devolved Administrations will receive Barnett consequentials which they could use to establish similar schemes.

JOB RETENTION SCHEME

This extended Job Retention Scheme will operate as the previous scheme did, with businesses being paid upfront to cover wages costs. There will be a short period when we need to change the legal terms of the scheme and update the system and businesses will be paid in arrears for that period.
The CJRS is being extended until December. The level of the grant will mirror levels available under the CJRS in August, so the government will pay 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500 and employers will pay employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and pension contributions only for the hours the employee does not work.
As under the current CJRS, flexible furloughing will be allowed in addition to full-time furloughing.
Further details, including how to claim this extended support through an updated claims service, will be provided shortly.
The Job Support Scheme will be introduced following the end of the CJRS.

Who is eligible?

Employers

All employers with a UK bank account and UK PAYE schemes can claim the grant. Neither the employer nor the employee needs to have previously used the CJRS.
The government expects that publicly funded organisations will not use the scheme, as has already been the case for CJRS, but partially publicly funded organisations may be eligible where their private revenues have been disrupted. All other eligibility requirements apply to these employers.

Employees

To be eligible to be claimed for under this extension, employees must be on an employer’s PAYE payroll by 23:59 30th October 2020. This means a Real Time Information (RTI) submission notifying payment for that employee to HMRC must have been made on or before 30th October 2020.
*As under the current CJRS rules:
Employees can be on any type of contract. Employers will be able to agree any working arrangements with employees.
Employers can claim the grant for the hours their employees are not working, calculated by reference to their usual hours worked in a claim period. Such calculations will broadly follow the same methodology as currently under the CJRS.
When claiming the CJRS grant for furloughed hours, employers will need to report and claim for a minimum period of 7 consecutive calendar days.
Employers will need to report hours worked and the usual hours an employee would be expected to work in a claim period.
For worked hours, employees will be paid by their employer subject to their employment contract and employers will be responsible for paying the tax and NICs due on those amounts.

What support is being provided and employer costs:

For hours not worked by the employee, the government will pay 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500. The grant must be paid to the employee in full.
Employers will pay employer NICs and pension contributions, and should continue to pay the employee for hours worked in the normal way.
As with the current CJRS, employers are still able to choose to top up employee wages above the scheme grant at their own expense if they wish.
The Government will confirm shortly when claims can first be made in respect of employee wage costs during November, but there will be no gap in eligibility for support between the previously announced end-date of CJRS and this extension.

New Job Support Schemes: Get the details right

HMRC finally released guidance on the operation of the twin job support schemes that both start on 1 November 2020. Rebecca Cave takes you through the essential details.

23rd Oct 2020

There are now two job support schemes (JSS). The original one designed for businesses that are legally required to close is now called JSS Closed, and the other one introduced by the Chancellor on 22 October for businesses that remain open but with employees working reduced hours: JSS Open.

The schemes may be used by the same business concurrently for different employees if it has premises in different areas, some of which are completely closed. A business could also move between the two schemes as the restrictions for the area it operates in change.

Businesses that qualify

The more generous JSS Closed can only be used by businesses which are required to close by the coronavirus regulations, such as under the tier 3 restrictions in England, or the similarly regulations in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. However, where premises are restricted to delivery or collection services, or to serving food outdoors, they count as “closed” if located in a restricted area.

All other small and medium sized businesses can use JSS Open if some or all of their employees are working reduced hours.

Large employers (with 250 or more employees on 23 September 2020) wanting to use JSS Open must also show that their trade has been affected by coronavirus. The VAT returns filed between 31 August and 7 November 2020 must show level or reduced sales (looking at box 6 totals) compared with the VAT returns for the same period in 2019. Group VAT returns should be used, not those for individual companies.

There are also common conditions for both JSS Open and JSS Closed (see below).

JSS Open

The JSS initially proposed in September has been transformed into something closely resembling the CJRS which closes on 31 October. A new factsheet sets out a number of examples, but further legislation and more guidance is expected very soon.

Under JSS Open the employee must work at least 20% of their usual working hours (defined as per the CJRS), which would amount to one day of a normal five-day working week. This reduction in hours must be agreed in writing with the employee.

The employer must pay for all of the worked hours at the employee’s agreed reference salary, plus up to 5% of the value of the hours not worked, up to £125 per month, but the employer may top-up this figure if they wish to. The reference salary will be capped at £3,125 per month, and defined in a similar way to CJRS.

The JSS grant will cover up to two thirds of the hours not worked, capped at £1541.75 per month.

The employer must pay all of the employer’s national insurance (NIC) on all of the wages the employee receives plus any employer’s minimum contribution to a workplace pension.

An employee who works for 20% of their contracted hours will receive:

20% of pay for worked time
4% (5% x 80%) of pay for non-worked time, capped at £125 per month
49.33 of pay (61.66% x 80%) for non-worked time, capped at £1541.75 per month

In total the employee receives 73.33% of their pay and foregoes 26.67% of their normal pay.

Example 1: Joe the campaigner and JSS Open

Joe is a campaigner employed by Biden Ltd on an annual salary of £36,000, or £3,000 per month. In a normal month he would work 225 hours, which is £13.33 per hour.

Joe has agreed to work 45 hours per month for £600. To qualify for the JSS Open, Biden must pay Joe for 5% of his remaining normal hours: £120 (9 x £13.33). The JSS grant should cover the cost of 61.67% of the total 180 non-working hours: £1,479.63 (111 x £13.33).

Joe receives pay of £2,199.63 (600 + 120 + 1,479.63), which is 73.33% of his normal pay.

Biden Ltd must bear the cost of £720 (600 + 120), plus the employer’s NIC on the full amount paid of £2,199.63 and any relevant workplace pension contributions for Joe.

JSS Closed

Under this scheme the grant will cover for two thirds of the normal pay of furloughed employees, who cannot work at all, up to a maximum of £2,083.33 per month. The employee must give up one third of their wages, and will have to agree to that change in their employment contract in writing if they are not already on a zero hours contract.

Example 2: Donny the chef and JSS ClosedDonny is a chef employed by Trump, on a salary of £32,000 or £2,666.67 per month. Trump’s burger bar is closed as it is located in a tier 3 zone.

Trump can claim for two thirds of Donny’s monthly salary (£1777.78) under the JSS Closed. Trump will also have to pay the employer’s NIC on that salary plus the minimum employer’s contribution the workplace pension, if Donny has not opted out of that scheme.

Donny will receive £1777.78 before tax and NIC deductions, which is two thirds of his normal salary.

JSS common conditions

The twin JSS grants schemes will run from 1 November 2020 to 30 April 2021, with the conditions to be reviewed in January 2021. The employer need not have claimed under the CJRS to use either JSS. Publicly funded bodies are not expected to use either JSS.

The other conditions for both JSS are as follows:

The employer must have a UK, Isle of Man or Channel Island bank account
The employer must use PAYE online
Only payments to eligible employees qualify for the grants (see below)
Large businesses are strongly discouraged from paying dividends or returning capital to shareholders while using the scheme.

Which employees are eligible?

There is some difference between the advice on the JSS Open factsheet and the gov.uk guidance on this point.

The factsheet says employees must be on the payroll of the employer between 6 April 2019 and 23 September 2020, and included on at least one RTI return in that period that was submitted before midnight on 23 September 2020. This implies the employee does not have to be employed for that entire period, and employment at some point in the period would qualify.

The gov.uk guidance says the employee must be employed on 23 September 2020. But if the employee has been made redundant since that point and rehired (implied by the same employer), they are an eligible employee.

Any person who is taxed as an employee is an eligible employee for JSS, which would include contractors subject to IR35 and agency workers.

Claims

Employers will be able to claim under either JSS from 8 December 2020, although the first claim period can’t start before 1 November 2020. Where the pay period straddles 1 November 2020, separate claims will have to be submitted under CJRS and JSS.

The claims must be made for minimum seven-day periods, but employees can cycle in and out of the JSS Open and do not have to work the same pattern each month.

A claim can’t be submitted for a particular employee until that employee’s wages have been paid and reported under RTI. This is to reduce fraud, but means the employer has to fund the entire payment to the employee in advance.

Further detailed guidance on how to make claims under either JSS will be published shortly.

Transparency

HMRC will publish the names of the employers which use either JSS Open or JSS Closed.

Employees will be able to check if their employer has made a JSS claim relating to them via their personal tax account. This feature is designed to prevent employers from claiming JSS while also asking employees to work.

Coronavirus: Covid Restrictions Business Support Scheme announced

22 October 2020

Grant support scheme for businesses restricted or significantly affected by Executive restrictions

Economy Minister Diane Dodds has announced details of a new support scheme to help businesses affected by the restrictions brought in by the Northern Ireland Executive on 16 October 2020.

The Covid Restrictions Business Support Scheme (CRBSS) – which will open shortly – will support businesses which meet the following criteria:

The business is:

restricted within the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No.2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 but is not eligible for the Localised Restrictions Support Scheme (LRSS)

or the business meets all of the following:

is within the supply chain of businesses restricted by the Regulations and as a result has been significantly impacted
is operating in Northern Ireland and was trading immediately prior to 16 October 2020
is not included in the scope of funding already allocated to Executive Departments to respond to COVID restrictions

Businesses which have failed to comply with a prohibition notice under Regulation 7 of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020(b)) would not be eligible for support under the scheme.

Businesses impacted by the localised restrictions in place in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area from the 5 October 2020 will also be eligible for backdated assistance.

Businesses that are required to close but are not eligible for LRSS are eligible for a grant of £600 per week.

Businesses that are not required to close but are within the supply chain of businesses restricted by the Regulations and significantly impacted will be eligible for a grant of up to £800 per week. They must demonstrate that they are in the direct supply chain of one or more businesses restricted by the Regulations and have been significantly impacted. This element will open at a later date.

Eligible businesses are subdivided between those paying business rates and those not paying business rates.

Businesses paying business rates and experiencing a significant decline in turnover will receive a grant based on the Net Annual Value (NAV) of the premises they operate from:

£400 per week for businesses with a NAV that does not exceed £15,000
£600 per week for businesses where the NAV exceeds £15,000 but doesn’t exceed £51,000
£800 per week for businesses where the NAV exceeds £51,000

The grants paid to businesses not forced to close but adversely impacted are equivalent to 50% of the grant payable under the LRSS.

Businesses not occupying commercial premises and experiencing a significant decline in turnover can apply for a grant of £300 per week. This is equivalent to 37.5% of the LRSS grant paid to businesses in restricted premises with a NAV that does not exceed £15,000. These grants will be made in a second tranche of payments at a later date.

The Minister also signalled her intent to bring forward two additional schemes to support schemes for the hospitality sector and the recently self-employed.

First published: 22 October 2020

New government Covid scheme to pay up to half of wages

22/10/2020 By BBC

Demand in pubs and restaurants has collapsed after bans on households mixing were introduced in many areas

The chancellor has unveiled increased support for jobs and workers hit by Covid restrictions after growing clamour from firms in tier two areas.

Rishi Sunak announced big changes to the Job Support Scheme (JSS) - set to replace furlough in November.

Under the revised scheme, employers will pay less and staff can work fewer hours before they qualify, while the taxpayer subsidy has been doubled.

The aim is to help struggling firms that have not been made to shut.

Businesses in tier two areas, particularly in the hospitality sector, had complained that they would be better off if they were under tier three restrictions.

They argued that although they would be forced to close, they would benefit from greater government support.

One prominent chef, Yotam Ottolenghi, had said conditions for his restaurants were "terrible" since tier two restrictions were applied to London, adding: "We are on our knees now."

In response to such arguments, Mr Sunak has now changed the terms of the JSS.

Instead of a minimum requirement of paying 55% of wages for a third of hours, as announced last month at the launch of the Winter Economic Plan, employers will have to pay for a minimum of 20% of usual hours worked, and 5% of hours not worked.

The government will now fund 62% of the wages for hours not worked . This more than doubles the maximum payment to £1,541.75. In the most generous case, the taxpayer will now go from funding 22% of wages to just under half.

The scheme will, as before, be open to all small businesses and larger businesses that can show an impact on revenues.

It is aimed at addressing the gap in support for businesses in tier two restrictions, such as London and Birmingham, but is not explicitly tied to that status, and is available across the UK.

Survival mode

"I've always said that we must be ready to adapt our financial support as the situation evolves, and that is what we are doing today. These changes mean that our support will reach many more people and protect many more jobs," Mr Sunak said.

"I know that the introduction of further restrictions has left many people worried for themselves, their families and communities. I hope the government's stepped-up support can be part of the country pulling together in the coming months."

The chancellor also announced specific help for hospitality and leisure businesses in tier two areas.

English councils will be funded to give monthly grants of up to £2,100 to 150,000 hotels, restaurants and B&Bs. Devolved nations will be given the equivalent funding for other nations, under the Barnett Formula.

The generosity of the self-employment scheme has also been doubled from 20% to 40% of profits, with a maximum grant now of £3,750 a month.

The changes to the JSS mean that employers are still obliged to establish whether they can continue to pay just over a fifth of usual employees for workers they wish to keep on.

At the time, some business groups and unions criticised the idea of forcing employers to calculate which jobs were "viable".

That approach was deemed appropriate by the government for a period of recovery, when the pandemic was in retreat, says BBC economics editor Faisal Islam.

However, that situation has now changed, and the new levels of generosity of the scheme indicate the government is acknowledging that large swathes of the economy are in survival mode, our editor adds.

Coronavirus: Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant extension

20 October 2020

The grant is being extended from 1 November 2020. Find out if you're eligible and how much you can get.

The grant extension is for self-employed individuals who are currently eligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and are actively continuing to trade, but are facing reduced demand due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

Who can claim

To be eligible for the grant extension self-employed individuals, including members of partnerships, must:

currently be eligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (although they do not have to have claimed the previous grants)
declare that they are currently actively trading and intend to continue to trade
declare that they are impacted by reduced demand due to coronavirus in the qualifying period (the qualifying period for the grant extension is between 1 November and the date of claim)

What the grant extension covers

The extension will provide two grants and will last for six months, from November 2020 to April 2021. Grants will be paid in two lump sum instalments each covering a three-month period.

The first grant will cover a three-month period from the start of November until the end of January. HMRC will provide a taxable grant covering 20 per cent of average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering 3 months' worth of profits, and capped at £1,875 in total.

HMRC are providing broadly the same level of support for the self-employed as is being provided for employees through the Job Support Scheme.

The second grant will cover a three-month period from the start of February until the end of April. HMRC will review the level of the second grant and set this in due course.

The grants are subject to Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions.

How to claim

HMRC will provide full details about claiming and applications in due course.

First published 28 September 2020

Coronavirus: Localised Restrictions Support Scheme

19 October 2020

The Localised Restrictions Support Scheme provides financial support to businesses which have been required to close or have had business activities at their premises directly curtailed by health protection restrictions that have been put in place by the NI Executive

Online applications for this scheme can now be submitted in relation to all Northern Ireland council areas.

Applicants should read the scheme guidance (PDF, 904K) to check eligibility before they apply.

Applications already submitted in relation to businesses in the Derry City & Strabane District Council area will automatically be considered for the increased levels of support payment announced on 15 October 2020. Applicants do not need to reapply.

The scheme is only open to businesses which have been required to close or have had business activities at their premises directly curtailed by the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No.2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020. The Scheme will apply to businesses, subject to eligibility criteria, including:

Cafes, pubs and restaurants that have been temporarily forced to close or limit their services to a takeaway, delivery or outdoor service;
Hotels, guesthouses and registered bed & breakfasts that have been temporarily forced to limit the provision of services for residents only;
Close contact services (as detailed in the Health Protection Regulations) operating in commercial premises such as hairdressers and barbers, beauty salons, day spas, nail bars and tattoo parlours who have been forced to close; and
Other businesses which, under the Health Protection Regulations are required to cease to carry that business or to provide that service, including campsites and caravan parks for touring caravans, cinemas, museums, galleries, bingo halls, funfairs, indoor amusement arcades, indoor visitor attractions, trampoline parks, inflatable parks, escape rooms, bowling alleys and ice rinks.

If you consider that your business is eligible for support from the Localised Restrictions Support Scheme in line with the legislation, you must apply online only. Support payments are only issued when an online application for the relevant business premises has been submitted and is found to be eligible for the support payment according to the scheme’s criteria.

The scheme is designed to support the occupying business in a property, not the landlord or managing agent. Applications must only be submitted by an authorised representative for the business which occupies the premises, such as the business owner, director or a senior manager. Landlords must not complete this application form on behalf of tenant businesses who rent their premises.

If you operate from more than one eligible premises, you may apply for support in respect of each one. You must complete a separate online application for each separate premises that you consider may be eligible for support.

Eligibility

Businesses must meet 3 eligibility criteria:

The business must operate from a property within Northern Ireland
The business must fall into at least one of the following categories:
- It has been registered with, or is in the process of registering with their local council environmental health department as a business operating in one of the following categories: cafe, restaurant, hotel, guesthouse (including registered bed & breakfast) or pub.
- It operates as a campsite or caravan park for touring caravans, cinema, a museum, a gallery, a bingo hall, a funfair, an indoor amusement arcade, an indoor visitor attraction, a trampoline park, an inflatable park, an escape room, a bowling alley, or an ice rink; or close contact services that operate from commercial premises (as detailed in the Health Protection Regulations) such as hairdressers and barbers, beauty salons, day spas, nail bars and tattoo parlours.
- It is a business which has been required to close or has had business activities at their premises directly curtailed by the Health Protection Regulations.
The business must have been open to the public and trading at the start of the restriction period set by the Health Protection Restrictions (unless the applicant business is a wet pub which serves drink only)

Exclusions

The following businesses are excluded from receiving support through the Localised Restrictions Support Scheme:

Public sector bodies
Businesses which have failed to comply with a COVID-19 prohibition notice served by the PSNI
Off-licences and supermarkets selling alcohol solely restricted by closure times
Premises solely restricted by latest ordering time of 11pm on takeaway orders

Support payments

The level of support that successful applicants will receive is based on the Total Net Annual Value (NAV) of the property from which the business operates:

Lower rate: £800 for each week that the restrictions apply for:
- a business that is the sole occupant operating from a property with an NAV of £15,000 or less,
- a guesthouse or bed & breakfast with a capital value (which means it is valued as a domestic property for rates); or
- a business that is a joint occupant of a property with any NAV.
Standard rate: £1,200 for each week that the restrictions apply for:
- a business that is the sole occupant of a property with an NAV between £15,001 and £51,000.
Higher rate: £1,600 for each week that restrictions apply for:
- A business that is the sole occupant of a property with an NAV of £51,001 or more.

Received your first support payment which is lower that the amounts listed above?

You will receive an additional payment shortly. The NI Executive announced the increased support payment levels on 15 October 2020, but the associated regulations will not be in place until around 26 October 2020.

In the interests of issuing support payments to eligible businesses as early as possible, eligible businesses whose applications are approved before 26 October will receive a support payment that relates to the initial payment levels (£400 per week for lower rate, £600 per week for standard rate and £800 per week for higher rate). Once the regulations for the increased support payment levels are in place, a further top-up payment will be issued to these applicants (£400 per week for lower rate, £600 per week for standard rate and £800 per week for higher rate). Those affected will receive a remittance advice email for each payment issued.

All payments issued after 26 October will be based on the increased support payment levels (£800 per week for lower rate, £1,200 per week for standard rate and £1,600 per week for higher rate)

You can find the NAV of business properties in the Non-Domestic Valuation List which is published online by Land & Property Services. Search the Non-Domestic Valuation List.

Support payments will be issued to successful applicants for the period that the localised restrictions apply. If localised restrictions are subsequently extended, support payments will automatically continue. Support payments will stop when localised restrictions are ended.

Further information

Further information about this scheme is available in the Localised Restrictions Support Scheme Guidance (PDF, 904K). You should read this guidance to check eligibility before you apply.

How to apply

You must use the online form below to apply for the Localised Restrictions Support Scheme.

Applicants should be aware that if any information provided on their application form is later found to be fraudulent or false, repayment of funding will be required.

Localised Restrictions Support Scheme application form

Your application will be processed as quickly as possible. Please note that it may take up to 3 weeks to verify and process your application. If you have not received confirmation that your application has been successful within this period, the Department of Finance (DoF) may need to contact you for more information. DoF appreciates your patience.

If your application is successful, the support payment will be sent directly to your bank account and you will receive an email confirming that payment has been issued. Please note that payments may take up to 7 working days following the remittance email to appear in your bank account.

Urgent queries about your application can be sent to LocalisedRestrictions@finance-ni.gov.uk. Please ensure that you quote your application reference number in any correspondence about your application.

First published 7 October 2020

New Covid 19 restrictions for Northern Ireland commencing 16th October 2020.

Executive tightens restrictions to curb Covid-19

Date published: 14 October 2020

The Executive has agreed a range of significant time-bound interventions to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Northern Ireland.

In addition to current household restrictions, the following measures will come into regulatory effect on Friday 16th October

and will be in place for a period of four weeks:

Bubbling to be limited to a maximum of 10 people from two households;
No overnight stays in a private home unless in a bubble;
Closure of the hospitality sector apart from deliveries and takeaways for food, with the existing closing time

of 11.00pm remaining.

Other takeaway premises will be brought in line with hospitality with a closing time of 11.00pm;
Close contact services such as hairdressers and beauticians are not permitted to open, apart from those relating to the

continuation of essential health interventions and therapeutics.

No indoor sport of any kind or organised contact sport involving household mixing other than at elite level;
No mass events involving more than 15 people (except for allowed outdoor sporting events where the relevant number

for that will continue to apply);

Gyms may remain open but for individual training only with local enforcement in place;
Funerals to be limited to 25 people with no pre- or post-funeral gatherings;
Off licenses and supermarkets will not sell alcohol after 8.00pm;
Wedding ceremonies and civil partnerships to be limited to 25 people with no receptions. This will be implemented on

Monday 19 October. Venues providing the post-ceremony or partnership celebration this weekend may remain open for

this purpose but may not provide other services for people who are not part of the wedding or partnership party and this

will be limited to 25;

And the following advice will be added to the existing health guidance:

Work from home unless unable to do so;
Universities and further education to deliver distance learning to the maximum extent possible with only essential

face to face learning where that is a necessary and unavoidable part of the course;

No unnecessary travel should be undertaken.

The half term holiday break for schools and colleges will be extended to a two-week break to run from 19th to 30th October.

Places of worship will remain open with a mandatory requirement to wear face coverings when entering and exiting.

This will not apply to parties to a marriage or civil partnerships.

The retail sector will also stay open at this time. Further engagement is planned to ensure that the sector does everything it

can to help suppress the virus.

The Executive will urgently engage with sectors and work on support for those affected as a matter of priority.

First Minister Arlene Foster said: “We are facing the tough reality of rapidly rising rates of infection. There are increasing

numbers of people requiring acute care in our hospitals and sadly we learned yesterday of the death of seven people

from Covid-19.

“The Executive has given careful and painstaking consideration of the right blend of actions that will do maximum damage

to the virus but minimum harm to life chances today and tomorrow.

“We understand that these interventions will be hard but they will not be in place for a moment longer than they need to be.

I would ask everyone to work with us to save lives and protect our health service.”

Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill said: “The Executive has taken these very difficult decisions in response to the

emergency situation we are faced with. The Coronavirus infection rate has reached crisis levels and our health service is in

real danger of becoming overwhelmed.

“Urgent intervention is needed to interrupt the spread of the virus and prevent a worsening of the situation.

“These measures will be in place for four weeks, but they will only be effective if we have the support of public. We are

appealing to everyone to do everything you can over these next few weeks to help keep everyone safe and save lives.

“We know this is hard and that people will be really worried about their livelihoods, but we will do everything we possibly

can to make sure there are protections in place for families, workers and businesses.”

Coronavirus: Job Support Scheme expanded to businesses required to close due to COVID-19 restrictions

12 October 2020

The Job Support Scheme (JSS) will be expanded to protect jobs and support businesses required to close their doors as a result of coronavirus restrictions

Under the expansion, business whose premises are legally required to shut for some period over winter as part of local or national restrictions will receive grants to pay the wages of staff who cannot work - protecting jobs and enabling businesses to reopen quickly once restrictions are lifted.

The government will support eligible businesses by paying two thirds of each employees' salary (or 67 per cent), up to a maximum of £2,100 a month.

Under the scheme, employers will not be required to contribute towards wages and only asked to cover national insurance contributions (NICs) and pension contributions, a very small proportion of overall employment costs. It is estimated that around half of potential claims are likely not to incur employer NICs or auto-enrolment pension contributions and so face no employer contribution.

Businesses will only be eligible to claim the grant while they are subject to restrictions and employees must be off work for a minimum of seven consecutive days.

The scheme will begin on 1 November and will be available for six months, with a review point in January. In line with the rest of the JSS, payments to businesses will be made in arrears, via a HMRC claims service that will be available from early December. Employees of firms that have been legally closed in the period before 1 November are eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

The scheme is UK wide and the UK government will work with the devolved administrations to ensure the scheme operates effectively across all four nations.

In addition to the expansion of the JSS, the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will benefit from a £1.3 billion increase to their guaranteed funding for 2020-21 - allowing them to continue their response to COVID-19.

These measures will sit alongside the original JSS - which is designed to support businesses that are facing low demand over the winter months - and the £1,000 Job Retention Bonus which encourages employers to keep staff on payroll.

They build on the government's wider package of unprecedented measures to help protect, create and support jobs through the pandemic.

For more information on the JSS expansion, see factsheet: Job Support Scheme Expansion for Closed Business Premises (PDF, 72K)

Further guidance on the scheme will be set out by HMRC in due course.

First published 12 October 2020

Coronavirus: Localised Restrictions Support Scheme

15 October 2020

Online applications for this scheme can currently only be submitted in relation to properties in the Derry City & Strabane District Council area.

Applications for businesses operating from premises in other Northern Ireland council areas are expected to open on Monday 19 October 2020. Please monitor this page for updates.

Cafes, pubs and restaurants that have been temporarily forced to close or limit their services to a takeaway, delivery or outdoor service;
Hotels and guesthouses that have been temporarily forced to limit the provision of services for residents only; and
Other businesses which, under the Health Protection Regulations are required to cease to carry that business or to provide that service, including cinemas, museums, galleries, trampoline parks, inflatable parks, escape rooms, bowling alleys, ice rinks and close contact services operating in commercial premises (such as hairdressers and barbers, beauty salons, day spas, nail bars and tattoo parlours).