The Government has announced further assistance for business owners and as the virus spreads, more assistance is expected.

Some relate to the self-employed, some to the employed and some relate to both. We have already mentioned in previous articles about the loans being available to help protect businesses, however, the loans will at some point need to be repaid. Therefore, more proactive action is required by business owners now.

You need to consider all the following points:-

·        Cancelling all non-essential expenditure.

·        Staff working a shorter week.

·        Taking advantage of the payment plans offered by HMRC in relation to corporation tax, personal tax, VAT and PAYE. Although this will eventually have to be repaid, HMRC will be more sympathetic especially if you’ve not delayed payment in the past.

·        Keeping an eye on cashflow. Ensure that you put any lending in place before it is needed.

·        Having an emergency strategy ready if all the above fail.  

Further to previous articles, HMRC has recommended that if you were to cease self-employment, you would be able to claim Universal Credit. For limited companies, depending on your circumstances, you would have various options which you would need to discuss with us.

We envisage that some companies will liquidate only to start up again after the crisis has ended, however, this will not be applicable to a large amount of clients. After speaking to the liquidators we use, they are expecting a change in the law to make company liquidations easier.

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