5 Ways Sheffield businesses can get coronavirus support

19th May 2020

Emergency funding, support for employee wages, self-employed income support, and tax deferment schemes, have all been put in place, and could help your business survive this extremely uncertain trading environment.

Businesses in Sheffield and across the region have access to a range of supportive government measures to help them deal with the devastating financial impact of coronavirus.

Emergency funding, support for employee wages, self-employed income support, and tax deferment schemes, have all been put in place, and could help your business survive this extremely uncertain trading environment.

1. Emergency finance

If your business needs emergency funding, the government backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) offer you vital financial support.

CBILS

Your business must have an annual turnover of £45 million or under to be eligible for this scheme, and have been negatively affected by coronavirus. Each loan is backed by the government up to 80%; lender fees are covered, and there is no interest to pay for the first 12 months. Loans of between £50,001 and £5 million are available through CBILS, and the scheme is currently in place until the end of September 2020, although it may be extended.

BBLS

Loans obtained through the Bounce Back Loan Scheme are backed 100% by the government, and available to businesses in financial difficulty due to COVID-19. You may be able to access up to 25% of your turnover through this scheme, with the maximum loan amount being £50,000. BBLS is available until 4th November 2020, but as with CBILS, it may be extended.

2. Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was developed to support businesses in Sheffield and around the UK through the coronavirus pandemic, and has recently been extended until the end of October. From August the format will be slightly different, but details have not yet been announced.

If you are an employer and desperately need support to pay your wages bill, you may be able to place your staff on “furlough,”which means with their agreement they take a leave of absence.

The government pays 80% of furloughed employees’ wages directly to the business. Payments are capped at £2,500 per month per employee, and you receive associated employment costs. To be eligible for this form of coronavirus support, you must have had a payroll scheme in place on or before 19th March.

3. Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS)

If you run a business as a self-employed person rather than as a company director and earn more than 50% of your income from self-employment, you may be eligible for a non-repayable government grant under the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme. Payments cover 80% of your average trading profits over the tax years 2016/17, 2017/18, and 2018/19, and are capped at £7,500.

4. Support for tax payments

VAT deferral

If you are registered for VAT you may be able to defer your VAT payments until 31st March 2021 with no interest or penalties applied, although you still need to submit your VAT returns as normal.

Self assessment tax

You can also defer your second self-assessment payment on account due in July 2020, until 31st January 2021.

HMRC Time to Pay (TTP) arrangement

HMRC has extended their Time to Pay scheme to help businesses struggling due to coronavirus. A Time to Pay arrangement could offer you an additional few months to pay your tax arrears - sometimes up to 12 months depending individual circumstances.

5. Professional advice for businesses in Sheffield

If all else fails you can get a free consultation with Gareth Rusling from our Sheffield office on business recovery options. When creditors are pressuring you for payment it can seem impossible to move forward, but procedures such as company administration could offer a respite and protection from legal action.

To find out more, please call Gareth and the team at your local Real Business Rescue office in Sheffield.