This was meant to be just a quick update yesterday as HMRC have finally announced that the SSP Rebate Scheme (Statutory Sick Pay) is set to open for claims from 26 May 2020.
However, I find myself with more to say (typical I hear you sigh ????????), and so will address this rebate scheme in depth and then touch on the items highlighted below, so please skim through to anything of interest / relevance to you and your business.
I’m delighted to hear that many of you have now successfully applied for support and already received funds, be it via the Job Retention Scheme, the Self Employment Income Support Scheme, or the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.
I hope you are also now finding yourselves in a position to think about getting back to business in the coming weeks and months, albeit not in exactly the same way as you may have been thinking in February.
As always, please feel free to pass this newsletter on to others who you think may find it interesting:
SUBS online Networking and Learning Event tomorrow
Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme
Self Employed Income Support Scheme
How to challenge if you are deemed ineligible
Top Up Grant Funding for Stockport Businesses
Stockport Business Register
Where to let people know that you’re open for business if you’re based in Stockport and the surrounding areas
Stockport SUBS online Networking and Learning Event
Our next Stockport SUBS event takes place tomorrow morning at 9am via Zoom. At the moment there are more than 50 business people booked on to what I am sure will be another excellent event.
The format is such that you have the opportunity to network with other local small business owners, via breakout ‘Zoom Rooms’, prior to a spotlight on getting your business ready to get back on track from a policies, processes and people point of view presented by a number of our Stockport partner firms.
If you would like to join us, you will need to register, which you can do by following the link below:
To register please use the ZOOM link below:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwrde6qrDsjH9EOVYGEROSJR-lAZCYVmdr0
I hope to see some of you there ????
Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme
As if we didn’t have enough acronyms to remember, this will be known as the CSSPRS (Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme).
The important stuff:
- You can claim for a maximum of 2 weeks under the scheme, or a total of £191.70 from 5 April
- If your claim is backdated to the last financial year, but after 13 March, the rate to use is £94.25 per week.
- The portal will open for claims on 26 May.
- You can claim for any employees to whom you paid SSP, when the absence was related to Coronavirus.
- You can also claim for former employees to whom SSP payments were made.
- You can claim for those to whom you paid SSP who were forced to self isolate due to living with someone who had symptoms of Covid-19.
- From 16 April you can also claim for employees who were shielding on the advice of the NHS or their doctor.
To be eligible:
- You must have fewer than 250 staff on payroll (at 28 February 2020)
- This includes connected employers
- Not have been in insolvency or receiving rescue aid at 31 December 2019
What you will need:
- Again this will be run through your Government Gateway account
- You will need your employer PAYE scheme reference number
- Your contact name and phone number
- A UK bank or building society which can accept payment via BACS
- Total amount of Coronavirus SSP paid in the period
- The number of employees being claimed for
- The start and end date of the claim period
If you haven’t yet enrolled for a Government Gateway account for your business, you can do so by following the link here:https://www.gov.uk/paye-online/enrol
As per my previous email/article, you may need to engage webchat support to add your PAYE service to your Gateway – just explain that it is already in use by your accountant but you also need to add it yourself too.
As always, previous newsletters and articles can be found via the home page on our website:
Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS)
HMRC have now launched an update to their SEISS eligibility checker to allow self employed to request a review of their entitlement to an SEISS grant if:
- HMRC’s tool says they are not eligible and they wish to dispute their status, or
- You disagree with the amount calculated with HMRC and wish to dispute this.
You can access the eligibility checker, and make your claim here:
https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/self-employment-support/enter-unique-taxpayer-reference
You will be asked to enter your UTR, followed by your National Insurance number
To request a review if you have already made your claim, you will need to login to your Government Gateway account, which you can access by following the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/log-in-register-hmrc-online-services
You will then be able to access an online form to request a review.
You will need the following information:Y
- Your grant claim reference
- Your national insurance number
- Your UTR, and
- Details about why you think the amount is wrong.
Good luck and let us know how you get on!
Local Authority Top Up Grant Funding for Stockport Based Businesses
Guidance has now been published by the Stockport Local Authority outlining their approach to allocation of the top up grant funding.
Full details can be read here, but summary details are as follows:
Phase 1 is primarily for small businesses in shared offices or other flexible workspaces. Examples could include:
- Mills, units in industrial parks, science parks and incubators which do not have their own business rates assessment;
- Regular market traders with fixed building costs, such as rent, who do not have their own business rates assessment;
- Bed & Breakfasts which pay Council Tax instead of business rates; and
- Charity properties in receipt of charitable business rates relief which would otherwise have been eligible for Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rate Relief.
In order to apply you must be able to provide the following evidence:
- Evidence of property costs greater than £250 per month including lease agreements and bank statements showing payments have been made
- Evidence demonstrating a substantial loss in income as a result of the Covid-19 situation, such as filed accounts for previous years and management accounts and bank statements for the current period
- Evidence that you comply with the definition of a small or medium sized business
- Confirmation that you have not received other grant income which render you ineligible to apply to this scheme
- these include any of the Covid related grant schemes (with the exception of the Job Retention Scheme), as well as other funds and schemes detailed in the full guidance
- Confirmation of compliance with State Aid rules
Funds will be awarded on a discretionary basis, with five levels of payments ranging from £2,500 to £25,000. If the funds are oversubscribed, the council reserves the right to amend funds on a pro rata basis.
Only once the council has processed and assessed all the grants in this first phase will they determine whether there is any additional funding left for a second phase.
If you believe you qualify for Phase 1 funding, the timeframe is as follows:
- Application window opens at 9am on Friday 22nd May
- Application window closes at 5pm on Wednesday 3rd June
- Processing of payments begins on Friday 5th June
Applications are to be made via a website, the details of which have not yet been made public. Payments will be made directly into you bank account.
There is an email address for enquiries, which is given as SKLADGRANTS@stockport.gov.uk, however when I emailed last week this was sent back as undeliverable.
We understand that there are a number of you who we believe are incredibly deserving of some form of grant support but have yet to receive any, and are too big to apply for this scheme. Rest assured we have written to Stockport Council to challenge the criteria for these top up grants on your behalf, and will also be writing to our MP. We will keep you updated when we receive any responses.
Stockport Businesses Open for Business register
Marketing Stockport have launched a webpage to publicise and promote your business and let people know that you are up and running and open for business. It’s completely free of charge, so I would encourage everyone who is able to register your business there.
It is broken down by sector, and to add your business, just scroll down to the bottom of the page and fill in the online form:
https://marketingstockport.co.uk/stockport-business-directory/
While it is aimed predominantly at Stockport businesses, I have just noticed that there is a Macclesfield based accountancy firm listed, so I am sure those of you in the surrounding areas can also list your businesses.
I think that’s it for now, so while it is only Thursday I will take this opportunity to wish you all well and that you have a safe, happy, healthy and fun filled bank holiday weekend!!
Any questions, as always, you know where to find me ????
Best wishes as always,
Sarah x
