October 2020

The existing self-employed grant (SEISS) will also be extended on the same basis as the job support scheme. 

An initial taxable grant will be provided to those who are currently eligible for SEISS and are continuing to actively trade but face reduced demand due to coronavirus. The initial lump sum will cover three months’ worth of profits for the period from November to the end of January next year. This is worth 20% of average monthly profits, up to a total of £1,875.

An additional second grant, which may be adjusted to respond to changing circumstances, will be available for self-employed individuals to cover the period from February 2021 to the end of April.

To be eligible for the further grants, taxpayers must meet the following criteria:

• Be currently eligible for the SEISS (although it is not necessary to have claimed the previous grants).
• Be actively trading at the time the grant is claimed and intend to continue to trade.
• Be impacted by reduced demand due to COVID-19 in the qualifying period.

The requirements to be “actively trading” and to be “impacted by reduced demand” are new and HMRC is expected to publish further guidance to clarify the meaning of these terms.

The requirement to be actively trading will mean that businesses that have had to close during the pandemic will not be able to claim if they have not restarted during the qualifying period.

This is designed to ensure that only viable businesses are supported and to align the scheme with the Job Support Scheme which will require employees to be working at least of a third of their usual hours.

HMRC will provide full details about how to claim on gov.uk and we will publish more information as it becomes available.

Approximately 11 million self-assessment taxpayers will be able to benefit from a separate additional 12-month extension from HMRC on the “Time to Pay” self-service facility, to help those who are unable to make the 2019/20 Self-Assessment tax payment deadline by 31 January 2021.

Specifically, taxpayers with liabilities of up to £30,000 can make use of HMRC’s ‘self-serve time to pay’ facility to secure a payment plan over an additional 12 months. This means that liabilities ordinarily due by 31 January 2021 can be deferred up until 31 January 2022. This also means that payments due by 31 July 2020 that were previously deferred until 31 January 2021 can be further deferred up to 31 January 2022.

The self-serve time to pay scheme will be available through HMRC’s website and eligible taxpayers will receive automatic and immediate approval.

Customers who wish to set up their own self-serve Time to Pay arrangements must meet the following requirements:

• they need to have no:
  • outstanding tax returns
  • other tax debts
  • other HMRC payment plans set up
• the debt needs to be between £32 and £30,000
• the payment plan needs to be set up no later than 60 days after the due date of a debt

Customers using self-serve Time to Pay will be required to pay any interest on the tax owed. Interest will be applied to any outstanding balance from 1 February 2021.

Self Assessment customers can set up their own online payment plan to help spread the cost of their tax bill. Please click here for further details.

HMRC’s normal time to pay self-assessment helpline (details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/difficulties-paying-hmrc) is still available to taxpayers unable to use the online service, whose debts exceed £30,000 or require more than a year to repay their tax debts.

However, it must be appreciated that this is a measure to assist those suffering financial hardship due to the Coronavirus pandemic. HMRC expect taxpayers who have not suffered financial hardship and have sufficient funds available to make their payments on time.

With many of us now working from home, making video conference calls, uploading documents and conducting business online, how can firms ensure that their data and systems are secure?

Update your network security

While you should really do this on a regular, ongoing basis, making sure your devices are completely up to date with the most recent security patches and upgrades can make a huge difference in securing your data.

Things like your operating system, antivirus and antimalware programs, and your router are just some of the things you should immediately shore up and protect since those are generally your first and last defence against external threats. If some of your staff are using their own, personal devices when working remotely, your firm can roll out secure platforms such as Mobile Iron, which can be installed on those devices, in order to keep company data secure.

Encrypt home WiFi

If your team is working from home, ensure that their WiFi network is encrypted. A good start is to change the router’s default password as it’s susceptible to attack from a hacker.

The default passwords tend to be weaker. ‘Admin’, for example. Note that this is not the password you use to access the network; it’s the one you use to protect your settings and configuration.

Two-factor authentication (2FA)

2FA requires two forms of identification to gain access, such as a password and a PIN code. This makes it harder for hackers to guess user login details. If you don’t want to rely on set numbers and codes, you can also use apps like Microsoft/Google Authenticator - this will send an approval notification to your phone which you can either approve or deny.

Training

Having the right training in place is central to working remotely. Assign appropriate training courses to your team and ensure that they all complete it. Reinforce staff responsibilities, including when to report cyber security issues.

Remind employees that while they work remotely, they have to maintain the same level of professionalism when it comes to secure and sensitive data as they do in the office. That includes reminding people that personal email is not to be used in an official capacity and that any physical documents kept at home must either be disposed of properly with a shredder or set aside securely (in a locked cabinet) to be shredded or securely filed at a later date.