GOVERNMENT EXTENDS FURLOUGH TO MARCH AND INCREASES SELF-EMPLOYED SUPPORT SCHEME
As the lockdown has now started for England and continues elsewhere, the Government has changed its mind again about business supports and decided to extend the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) across all regions of the UK.
The Chancellor has announced that CJRS will be extended until the end of March 2021 for all parts of the UK. For claim periods running to 31 January 2021, the UK Government will pay 80% of employees’ usual wages for hours not worked, up to a cap of £2,500 per month. The UK Government will review the policy in January to decide whether economic circumstances are improving enough to ask employers to contribute more.
It was also confirmed that the Job Retention Bonus will no longer be paid in February 2021, as CJRS will be available at that time. An alternative retention incentive will be put in place at the appropriate time.
How long is support available for?
The CJRS will remain open until 31 March 2021. For claim periods running to January 2021, employees will receive 80% of their usual salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. The £2,500 cap is proportional to the hours not worked.
The Government will review the policy in January to decide whether economic circumstances are improving enough to ask employers to contribute more.
Claims can be made by employers across the UK that meet the eligibility criteria.
HMRC published information on eligibility criteria and details of how the scheme will be run on 10 November 2020. You can find out more here: HMRC Extended CJRS You can find out more here: HMRC Extended CJRS
If we processed your previous claims rest assured we will be updating our systems for the extended scheme and we will be able to estimate your claims under the new scheme shortly.
What support is available for Self Employed?
The Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) is also to be extended to cover November to January 2021
Similarly, support for millions more workers through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will be increased. The SEISS grant extension will be in the form of two further grants, each available for 3-month periods covering November 2020 to January 2021 and February 2021 to April 2021. Read more in our article on Support for the Self-Employed
What support is available?
There have been many announcements about Government Support and we have summarised these in our article on Coronavirus Funding Support
We can help
Please talk to us about getting Government support during these tough times. We are here to help and can work plans out with you. Contact us at info@ammu.uk