Accura Accountants – Update
Dear Clients
I do hope that you are your family are well.
To reiterate the point from Friday’s email we are here for you.
Each one of your direct advisers at Accura Accountants are here to assist you during these uncertain times. With our vast experience we will assist each client in “getting through” these troubled times and using Boris Johnsons terminology “We will get it done.”
I am trying to ensure with these regular emails that every client receives advice as quickly as possible so that you can be proactive and for example submit any loan applications in good time to receive a favourable outcome.
I would commence by advising ALL clients that the directors and consultants will NOT be charging for their dedicated time in advising you. We are all in this together and together we will emerge at the end of this journey as a stronger team.
Last Friday, listening to our Chancellor myself together with I assume every person listening believed he had waved a magic wand. However not every cloud has a silver lining and as time passes, clarity steps in.
Not every point has been totally clarified and therefore my update emails may require amendment as the days pass and we will keep you updated as and when necessary.
I now refer back to my email dated 20th March and provide further information where applicable as follows:
Government backed loans
Not yet clarified and information due 23rd March.
One amendment is that the interest will now be abated for 12 months and not six as originally thought.
A claim will not be a simple process, the banks will need to vet information to enable a commercial decision based on “viability” and to ensure that the loans requested will enable each company to use the funds to survive and prosper going forward.
Logically to ensure loans are able to be repaid, I expect that the banks will require the following:
- Projected cash flows – setting out two scenarios 1) A position without the loan and 2) a position with the loan.
- Details of both current debtors and creditors
- Projected profit and loss accounts for 12 months
- The above should also be prepared with an overview statement setting out historic turnover, possibly extraction from VAT records /sales day book summary and current restructuring.
- Such consideration of potential claims under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme together with anticipated recovery as hopefully we see the light at end of tunnel.
- Last financial accounts – My recommendation is that all current Company accounts (due for filing now where applicable) are submitted to Companies House and therefore will be accessible in the public domain.
Clients should consider the loans based on quality of one’s business and now is the time to consider longevity and history of your businesses.
Grants and business rates relief
Previous email situation still remains unchanged, however I have been requested to clarify reference to rateable value.
This is not what you pay, but the value multiplied by the amount in £ of differing local authorities.
Accura Accountants will be both advising and preparing applications to client’s local authorities when requested on an individual basis.
Self-employed /Companies /Staff members /Statutory sick pay
See previous email – Although MPs are trying to encourage our Chancellor to increase the levels, further clarification is needed.
Initially the offer looked great, but possibly on reflection it was too good to be true.
HMRC will reimburse 80% of an employee’s wage cost for those unable to work due to the outbreak. This is subject to a cap of £2,500 per month.
In order for employers to claim the 80% of the employees’ wages cost, I consider words not used regularly in daily life which are “FURLOUGHED WORKERS”.
Employers will need to designate any affected employees as “furloughed workers” and notify employees of this change. The scheme can be backdated to 1st of March.
(A furlough is a temporary leave of employees due to special needs of a company or employer, which may be due to economic conditions at the specific employer or in the economy as a whole.)
Conditions to claim the “grant” are as follows:
- Employees must not formally work for their employer, but remain on wages (similar to garden leave).
- Employee should be technically employed at say rate of £25,000 (if currently earning more, employer is NOT obliged to make up difference) So as an example someone earning £40,000 income drops to £25,000 while under the scheme, a loss to employees of £15,000 with no recourse based on what information is available.
Based on current information PAYE and National Insurance would be calculated and paid under current PAYE regulations.
Calculations of monthly liabilities per below based on £25,000 per annum income.
Liability with personal allowance :
Employee tax & NIC – £4,464.16
Employer NIC – £2,258.78
Liability without personal allowance
Employee tax & NIC – £6,964.16
Employer NIC – £2,258.78
I stress that employee cannot work for employer during time grant being paid.
Trying to read between the lines, what I believe the Chancellor envisages is that NON essential staff are treated as “Furloughed workers” and essential staff are maintained to try and ensure business emerges at end of current crisis.
I do believe the reference to TES in my email dated 20th March was much more sensible and would enable companies to recover quicker. Inevitably there will be a major slowdown in business activity.
Staff position in event of acceptance of above
Staff could be eligible to claim support through the welfare system, and most importantly, banks and mortgage lenders will offer assistance in respect of a three months holiday.
Obviously the non-payment will be added to overall loans, or possibly borrowers can repay over extended period.
Please ensure your staff are aware that we are all in this together. Should businesses fail, jobs will not be available. There must be an input from your staff to understand times have changed and take home pay adjusted. Take action early and do not delay major decisions when backs are against the wall as it may be too late.
Self-employed /companies /staff members /statutory sick pay
Based on my summary last week, nothing has changed as I type this announcement
Time to pay arrangements (TTP)
No additional notes – Contact number is 0800 0159 559
As envisaged, it is extremely difficult to get through and per my previous advice, a letter should be sent to HMRC as backup.
VAT
Current VAT can be deferred for three months. Although not stated, I believe VAT returns MUST be completed and submitted in normal way. I do believe that failure to comply could create difficulties such as refusal of offer for deferment.
All UK businesses, with a VAT period falling between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020 will be able to defer payment of the liability. This is an automatic offer and doesn’t need to be applied for. Therefore, businesses will need to submit their VAT return as normal but do not need to make the payment to HMRC. Taxpayers will then be given the remainder of the tax year (5 April 2021) to settle the liability.
PAYE & NATIONAL INSURANCE
See my email dated 20th March
No mention of any assistance in this area and any liability should be addressed via TTP.
Again, contacting HMRC will be very difficult
Send out requests for TTP early and do not leave it indefinitely.
HARDSHIP FUND
As I type this report, nothing new has emerged and I wait further information to be made available, but my suggestion is to apply early in writing to local councils.
Again, our directors and consultants are at your disposal but bearing in mind the enormity of extra work please be patient.
Mortgage Lenders
I again refer to my email 20th March and suggest that applications for assistance be made ASAP.
I would advise all clients that in an unprecedented move the CEO of Barclays wrote to clients offering assistance. I have cut and paste this email below to ensure that clients can see the attempts by banks to stabilise our economy. Again, I advise clients to be pragmatic and not panic.
Companies House.
See my 20th March email. Nothing has changed, however please consider when banks and funders review businesses standing, any information within public domain will be considered. Companies House is allowing later submissions of accounts but this needs organising in advance. Again please contact us to discuss.
Insurance, consequential loss claim,
Clients should now obtain and review their insurance policies for possibility of a claim under business interruption. This point I believe applies only to businesses such as restaurants, gymnasiums, theatres, cinemas and businesses that the Government has formally instructed to close their doors.
I have teamed up with a very experienced loss assessor, who will review at no charge and advise accordingly. Many policies may state various areas of a claim and definitely Covid19 will not be referred to as obviously it is a new pandemic. Hopefully the Government will intervene and assist with directions to insurance companies. As yet, I doubt that such minutia has been considered as it will be too early and everyone is trying to deal with assistance on a global front.
Hopefully clients will realise that assistance will be needed and as stated above directors and consultants will NOT be charging for their time advising in these uncharted times. However, we cannot ignore essential staff producing what will be needed to provide information as noted above. Essential staff cannot be treated as “Furloughed workers” to ensure we, as with other professionals survive.
Self-employed – Second instalment tax due 31st July 2020
Boris Johnson has announced that the second instalment as estimated in your 2019 tax return, submitted by 31st January 2020 will not be payable and this liability is expected to be paid 31st January 2021.
(This tax is calculated by reference to accounting periods /assessed income for year ended 5th April 2020)
Based on the information provided to date, this deferral does only apply to those who are self-employed, therefore individuals with dividend or rental income should expect that their July payment on account is due as normal. This should be confirmed in due course.
Clients should note that if they expect a major downturn in trade and potential bad debts taxpayers/advisors should reflect on the original estimated tax. They should notify HMRC of this reduction of estimated tax and this action should reduce potential tax payable 31st January 2021.
Furthermore, all taxpayers/businesses should review their debtors/monies owed for which VAT may have been already paid or is due based on invoices raised and ensure potential bad debts/ non paid debtors in excess of 6 months claims should be made adjusted within current VAT returns.
As stated, VAT returns should still be submitted irrespective of current scenario.
Compliance is still a major factor. No allowance has, or in my opinion will be made to disregard established principles in supplying information to HMRC. I am particularly concerned that various claims noted in my emails will be very dependent on FULL COMPLIANCE.
It would be very easy, based on what is expected as the largest onslaught of requests /demands and loan considerations for HMRC /Institutions to refer back to claimants, to provide and bring up to date their obligations as laid out in the HMRC statutes.
Compliance obligations being extended will only be for current periods, so please do not be surprised if accounts have not been supplied to Companies House and are subject to penalties prior to Companies House granting extra time. Applications may as a result be refused or the claimant advised to become fully compliant before application.
Accura Accountants will be calculating costs on an individual basis and will require a contribution to ensure our staff can be paid for vital work, therefore please address current outstanding fees which will enable us to provide full support from our staff.
All advice set out above should be discussed and considered as we wish our clients to be protected and to make requests/claims etc early. Certainly not left when they will then be at the back of an enormous queue for consideration.
I conclude that it is vital for both mental and physical health to remain calm and contact us.
Contact would be preferably by email, setting out your worries and we will of course assist.
Please note we expect to be very busy, so please bear with us and your chosen advisor may need to seek assistance from others in the organisation before responding.
Extract from the email submitted by Barclays Bank. I assume and hope every bank and mortgage lender will follow suit.
I’m writing today as I know that coronavirus is a source of concern for many people right now – and I wanted to let you know we’re here to help.
Whether you would like additional support with managing your money, or have faced disruption to finances or travel plans, we can work with you to look at ways to make things easier, including:
- Mortgage Payments: Repayment holidays on residential mortgages for up to 90 days
- Accessing Savings: Removing penalty charges to access fixed savings accounts early
- Paying Fees: Stopping late payment and cash advance fees for the next 90 days for credit cards.
For more information on this and managing your finances during this period, you can find our latest advice by visiting our homepage and clicking ‘Coronavirus help’ – there you’ll find links to all the content referenced in this email on pages that will be updated daily.
If you need to access your banking services and are unable to get to a branch, or need to stay at home, there are also a wide range of ways that we can help you there too. I’ve outlined a number of those below which hopefully you’ll find useful.
I appreciate that the circumstances in which we find ourselves at the moment will cause worry. At Barclays we are committed to being responsive to your needs as the situation evolves, and we will continue to be in touch with information and updates.
In the meantime – with best wishes.