HMRC Budget 2020 measures which support businesses and employers on COVID-19: The Chancellor set out a plan to support public services, individuals and businesses that may be affected by COVID-19. These include:
• For businesses with fewer than 250 employees, the cost of providing 2 weeks of COVID-19 related statutory sick pay per employee will be refunded by the government in full. This will provide 2 million employers with up to £2 billion to cover the costs of large-scale sick leave. HMRC will provide further details in due course on how employers can access the rebate. More information about this and regular updates can be found on GOV.UK.
• A dedicated helpline has been set up to help businesses and self-employed individuals in financial distress and with outstanding tax liabilities receive support with their tax affairs. Through this, businesses may be able to agree a bespoke Time to Pay arrangement. If you are concerned about being able to pay your tax due to COVID-19, call HMRC’s dedicated helpline on 0800 0159 559.
Further HMRC related Budget 2020 measures:
• Capital Gains Tax annual exempt amount is increased from £12,000 to £12,300
• NIC Class 1 primary threshold is increased to £183 per week, equivalent to £9,500 per year. The Class 4 lower profits limit is also increased to £9,500
• NIC employment allowance for employers is increased from £3,000 to £4,000 per year, but it is also worth mentioning that the allowance is being separately reformed, also from 6 April 2020, to restrict the allowance to employers whose NICs liability in the previous tax year was less than £100,000.
• Pension lifetime allowance is increased in line with inflation to £1,073,100 for 2020/21.
• There will be an increase to the Research & Development Expenditure Credit from 12% to 13%.
• The off-payroll working rules ensure that individuals who work through an intermediary (usually a personal service company) and would have been an employee had they provided their services directly, pay the same Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions as other employees. The government seeks to address non-compliance with the off-payroll working rules (IR35) by extending similar reform to medium and large sized organisations across all sectors from April 2020.
• From 6 April 2020 the government will increase the maximum flat rate deduction available for employees under homeworking arrangements from £4 to £6 per week.
• From 1 April 2021 there will be a 2% surcharge on Stamp Duty on non-UK residents purchasing residential property in England and Northern Ireland.
• The Entrepreneurs’ Relief lifetime limit has been reduced from 10 million to £1 million. This will apply to qualifying disposals made on or after 11 March 2020 and to certain disposals made before 11 March 2020.
• There will be an increase in Structures and Building allowance for capital allowances from 1 April 2020 from 2% to 3%. The SBA was introduced last year for non-residential structures and buildings and provides relief on eligible expenditure on a straight-line basis.