What this guide includes:

1- Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme:

Under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, all UK employers will be able to access support to continue paying part of their employees’ salary for those employees that would otherwise have been laid off during this crisis. All UK businesses are eligible and can access this scheme:
Businesses will need to:

• Designate effected employees as ‘furloughed workers,’ and notify these employees of this change – changing the status of employees remains subject to existing employment law and, depending on their employment contracts, may be subject to negotiations.
• Submit information to HMRC about the employees that have been furloughed and
  their earnings through a new online portal (HMRC will set out further details on the
  information required)

Under Job retention Scheme, HMRC will reimburse 80% of furloughed workers wage costs, up to a cap of £2,500 per month. HMRC are working urgently to set up a system for reimbursement. Existing systems are not yet set up to facilitate payments to employers.

3- Statutory Sick Pay relief package for SMEs

The Government has confirmed that employees will not need to provide a fit note in order
to receive STATUTORY SICK PAY (SSP) when self-isolating due to coronavirus. Small-and
medium-sized businesses and employers can reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid for
sickness absence due to COVID-19.

Eligibility criteria will be as follows:

• Refund will cover up to 2 weeks’ SSP per eligible employee who has been off work
  because of COVID-19.
• Employers with fewer than 250 employees will be eligible – the size of an employer
  will be determined by the number of people they employed as of 28 February 2020.
• Employers will be able to reclaim expenditure for any employee who has
  claimed SSP (according to the new eligibility criteria) as a result of COVID-19
• Employers should maintain records of staff absences and payments of SSP. If
  evidence is required by an employer, those with symptoms of coronavirus can get
  an isolation note from NHS 111 online and those who live with someone that has
  symptoms can get a note from the NHS website.
• Eligible period for the scheme will commence the day after the regulations on the extension of SSP to those staying at home comes into force.
• Government will work with employers over the coming months to set up the repayment mechanism for employers as soon as possible. 
• A rebate scheme is being developed. Further details will be provided in due course once the legislation has been passed.

5- Small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business.

The government will provide additional Small Business Grant Scheme funding for local authorities to support small businesses that already pay little or no business rates because of small business rate relief (SBBR), rural rate relief (RRR) and tapered relief. This will provide a one-off grant of £10,000 to eligible businesses to help meet their ongoing business costs.

Your business will be eligible if:

• your business is based in England
• you are a small business and already receive SBBR and/or RRR
• you are a business that occupies property

If you are not aware of SBRR and RRR please follow the link

https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-business-rate-relief/small-business-rate-relief

Again, you do not need to do anything. Your local authority will write to you if you are eligible for this grant. The Guidance for local authorities can be found at the link below.

7- Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)

• Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme delivered by the British Business
  Bank.
• The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80% on each loan (subject
  to a per-lender cap on claims) to give lenders further confidence in continuing to
  provide finance to SMEs.
• The government will not charge businesses or banks for this guarantee, and the
  Scheme will support loans of up to £5 million in value.

Eligibility Criteria for (CBILS):

• Be UK based, with turnover of no more than £45 million per annum
• Be able to confirm that they have not received de minimis State aid beyond 200,000 equivalent over the current and previous two fiscal years
• Be unable to meet a lender’s normal lending requirements for a fully commercial loan or other facility, but would be considered viable in the longer-term

How to access the scheme:

• The full rules of the Scheme and the list of accredited lenders is available on
  the British Business Bank website. All the major banks will offer the Scheme once it
  has launched. There are 40 accredited providers in all.
• You should talk to your bank or finance provider as soon as possible and discuss
  your business plan with them. This will help your finance provider to act quickly
  once the Scheme has launched. If you have an existing loan with monthly
  repayments, you may want to ask for a repayment holiday to help with cash flow.
• The scheme will be available from early week commencing 23 March 2020.

Complete range of financial products that are expected to fall within the CBIL scheme:

• Term facilities
• Overdrafts
• Invoice finance facilities
• Asset finance facilities

9- HMRC-Time to Pay Scheme:

• All businesses and self-employed people in financial distress, and with outstanding
  tax liabilities, may be eligible to receive support with their tax affairs through
  HMRC’s Time To Pay service.
• These arrangements are agreed on a case-by-case basis and are tailored to
  individual circumstances and liabilities.

You are eligible if your business:

• pays tax to the UK government.
• has outstanding tax liabilities

How to access the scheme
If you have missed a tax payment or you might miss your next payment due to COVID19, please call HMRC’s dedicated helpline: 0800 0159 559.

11- Insurance:

• Businesses that have cover for both pandemics and government-ordered closure should be covered, as the government and insurance industry confirmed on 17 March 2020 that advice to avoid pubs, theatres etc is sufficient to make a claim as long as all other terms and conditions are met.
• Insurance policies differ significantly, so businesses are encouraged to check the terms and conditions of their specific policy and contact their providers. Most businesses are unlikely to be covered, as standard business interruption insurance policies are dependent on damage to property and will exclude pandemics.

13- Late filing of company accounts:

• If, immediately before the filing deadline, it becomes apparent that accounts will not be filed on time due to your company being affected by Coronavirus (COVID19), you may make an application to companies house to extend the period allowed for filing.
• If you do not apply for an extension and your accounts have been filed late, an automatic penalty will be imposed. The registrar has very limited discretion not to collect a penalty.
• Each appeal is treated on a case-by-case basis, and Companies house already have policies in place to deal with appeals based upon unforeseen poor health. Appeals based upon COVID-19 will be considered under these policies.