Tax Matters

Our earlier blog outlined the details of the Job Support Scheme which were released on 24 September, and we await with interest and some trepidation the detail of how this scheme will operate. In the meantime, there are a few announcements of interest worth commenting on as we get ready to leave the Furlough scheme behind and move into considering the Job Retention Bonus and other reliefs.

In our new reality, we no longer have an autumn budget to look forward to, but instead the Chancellors Winter Economy Plan announced earlier today.

In his Summer Statement on 8 July 2020, the Chancellor announced a six-month reduction in the VAT rate on supplies of food and non-alcoholic drinks from restaurants, pubs, bars and cafés, as well as to supplies of accommodation and admission to tourist attractions.

Restaurants and other establishments serving food for on-premises consumption can now sign up to a new government initiative aimed at protecting jobs in the hospitality industry and encouraging people to safely return to dining out.

The Eat Out to Help Out registration service went live this morning on GOV.UK, allowing businesses to join the scheme.

On 8 July 2020 the Chancellor announced a range of measures largely concerned with trying to reduce the inevitable rise in unemployment and to encourage us all to start spending again to kick start the economy. As is often the case, we only have headline details at present with further detail to follow over the next few weeks, and here is a summary of what we know at present:

We take a look at the latest statement from the Chancellor and list the main initiatives

Cheshire East Council has launched the second phase of the local discretionary grant scheme, this follows the first phase of the grant scheme which closed on 15 June.

It was late on Friday evening when the expected revisions to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme were published

On Friday 29 May the Chancellor announced that some of the changes to the scheme will apply a month earlier than expected. For your guidance a summary of these changes follows:

As of midnight on 24 May 2020, the CJRS has been used by 1 million employers, and the total value of claims made was £15 billion.