What support is available for office supplies dealers right now?
Together, we’re facing a period which will probably be remembered as one of the most trying and turbulent of our lifetimes.
But while the waters are far from calm, there is hope for office supplies businesses out there.
Over the past days and weeks, the government has rolled out a number of funding measures and support packages to help businesses stay afloat.
In this blog post, we’ve put together a handy summary of the 9 funding schemes available for you, as well as where to go to find out more.
1- The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
2- Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)
3- Grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses
4- Rates relief
5- Support for businesses that pay little or no business rates (“small companies”)
6- Time to Pay arrangements “TTP”
7- Statutory Sick Pay “SSP” for Small or medium sized businesses
8- Deferral of VAT
9- Income Tax payment deferral
1 – The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
This is grant support which will cover 80% of staff wages (up to £2,500 per month) for an initial period of 3 months.
It’s been put in place to help businesses keep staff during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Any business or employer of any size in the UK is eligible for this. The funding is for employees who are ‘furloughed’ (kept on as an employee but not working) instead of made redundant.
For full details and how to apply visit this website
2 – Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)
These are loans for small businesses across the UK to help support their cashflow during this difficult time.
The scheme is open to businesses who are UK based, have a maximum turnover of £45m per year, operate within an eligible industry and have not received more than €200,000 de minimis State aid over this and the previous 2 financial years.
For full details and how to apply visit this website
3 – Grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses
This is a £25,000 grant for retail, hospitality & leisure businesses which operate from smaller premises which have a rateable value of £15,000 to £51,000.
To find out if you are eligible, you should speak with your Local Authority.
For full details visit this website
4 – Rates Relief
The government has said that 100% business rate discount is available for all retail, leisure and hospitality venues between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021.
At the moment, all property occupiers in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors are eligible, but you should get in touch to see if your situation applies.
For more information on Rate Relief you can download this PDF
5 – Support for businesses that pay little or no business rates (“small companies”)
The government will give extra funding to local authorities to support small businesses that already pay little or no business rates.
A one-off grant of £10,000 will be given to businesses who are currently eligible for SBRR or rural rate relief, to help with their business costs. This should be available from 1st April.
For full details and how to apply visit this website
6 – Time to Pay arrangements “TTP”
These have been around for over a decade, but HM Treasury has announced a stepping up of resource and a specific COVID-19 helpline that businesses can call for support.
TTP arrangements allow businesses to defer current tax debts by converting settlement to instalments over a 3-12 months period.
For full details and how to apply visit this website
7 – Statutory Sick Pay “SSP” for Small or medium sized businesses
Statutory Sick Pay is now available from day 1 for any eligible employee who self isolates or are ill because of COVID-19. This is £94.25 per week.
To ease the pressure, small and medium businesses (under 250 staff) can recover this cost from 13th March for a maximum of two weeks sickness per employee.
For full details and how to apply visit this website
8 – Deferral of VAT
VAT payments due from businesses between 20 March 2020 and the end of June 2020 will be deferred.
No VAT registered business will need to make a VAT payment normally due with their VAT return to HMRC in this period. Payment of VAT will be deferred to the end of the tax year.
For full details and how to apply visit this website
9 – Income Tax payment deferral
Any income tax payments due under Self-Assessment on 31 July 2020 will be deferred until 31 January 2021.
This applies automatically with no application required.
For full details visit this website
Do you need a bit more support?
We know that times are difficult for everyone. But hopefully this helps you decide which form of funding is right to keep your business as productive and successful as possible during this period.
If you would like to have a chat about how Office Power could help support your business right now, then call 07789 004 158 or email chris.armstrong@officepower.net.
