SBTNational News - Covid-19 Special
COVID-19 Update for Businesses Yesterday the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, set out further measures the Government will be implementing in response to the Coronavirus outbreak, in order to minimise the economic impact of the necessary steps the Country will take in the coming weeks and months. A summary of the key policies follow but please also keep in mind the measures that had already been announced in last week’s budget; particularly the ability for businesses to defer debts due to HMRC for PAYE, VAT and Corporation Tax. In many cases this will be the most effective step many businesses will be able to take to preserve cash flow liquidity. You can follow the button link below to find out more on this scheme.
Tax Helpline to Support Businesses Affected by Covid-19 www.gov.uk/government/news/tax-helpline-to-support-businesses-affected-by-coronavirus-covid-19
Principal measures announced yesterday Loan funding for SME business The headline policy for SME businesses was to extend the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and underwrite £330 billion in loan guaranties, assisting businesses to access up to £5 million in Government-
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backed loan finance. This scheme will be up and running by the start of next week and aims to provide liquidity to viable businesses which cannot access finance because they have insufficient security to meet lender’s normal requirements. The loans will be interest free for 6 months. This flagship policy relies on the systems and decision making processes of
banks and as we write it is unclear whether the qualifying criteria or the detail and volume of supporting information required will be relaxed to enable the quick decisions that businesses will require. In the previously announced scheme, the Government only guaranteed 80% of the loan value and this meant that an element of risk remained with the banks tasked with delivering the loans. In our experience
