Business News – 20th September 2021 – 2020 Innovation
As part of 2020’s commitment to
its members by providing online training for accountants in practice, we have
provided a Business News Update for our members.
UK Autumn and
Winter Covid Plan
Last week the Prime
Minister set out the government’s plan to manage Covid throughout autumn and
winter and the government will aim to sustain this progress through building
defences through pharmaceutical interventions, identifying and isolating
positive cases to limit transmission, supporting the NHS and social care,
advising people on how to protect themselves and others and pursuing an
international approach.
Vaccines will
continue to be the first line of defence. All those who were vaccinated during
Phase 1 of the vaccine programme (priority groups 1 to 9) will be offered
booster jabs from this month – to boost immunity amongst the most vulnerable
groups during winter.
The Test, Trace and
Isolate programme will continue with symptomatic PCR testing continuing
throughout the autumn and winter.
Lateral flow tests
will also remain free of charge but at a later stage, as the response to the
virus changes, this will end, and individuals and businesses will be expected
to bear the cost.
The legal
obligation to self-isolate for those who have tested positive, and their
unvaccinated contacts will continue, and the financial support payment for
those self-isolating on certain benefits will continue in its current format
until the end of March.
The coming few
months could pose renewed challenges and it is difficult to predict the path of
the virus so there will be a range of ‘Plan B’ measures kept under review to
help control transmission of the virus while minimising economic and social
damage.
Plan B would
include:
The government
could also consider asking people to work from home again if necessary, but a
final decision on this would be made at the time, dependent on the latest data
– recognising the extra disruption this causes to individuals and businesses.
New system for
International travel
Eight countries
will move from the red list on 22 September and the rules for international
travel to England will change on 4 October 2021.
The current traffic
light system will be replaced by a single red list of countries and territories
and simplified travel measures for arrivals from the rest of the world from
Monday 4 October at 4am.
Testing
requirements will also be reduced for eligible fully vaccinated travellers, who
will no longer need to take a PDT when travelling to England from Monday 4
October 4am.
Plastic
Packaging Tax Starts 1 April 2022
The legislation to
introduce the new Plastic Packaging Tax is included in the Finance Act 2021.
Secondary legislation will be introduced later in the year. Until the secondary
legislation becomes law, the contents of the HMRC Policy Paper are subject to
change. More guidance will be published later in the year. You must continue to
comply with all regulatory requirements for plastic packaging in other
legislation.
HMRC Guidance published
on 19 September provides a high level overview of Plastic Packaging Tax.
If you are a
business that manufactures or imports 10 or more tonnes of plastic packaging
over a 12-month period you will need to register for the tax. This is
regardless of whether you will have to pay any tax. This includes importers of
packaging which already contains goods, such as plastic bottles filled with
drinks. Where the packaging you import already contains other goods, the tax
only applies to the plastic packaging itself.
If you are a
business that needs to register for the tax, you will need to pay Plastic
Packaging Tax on any packaging that contains less than 30% recycled plastic.
The tax will be charged at £200 per tonne. For example, if you manufacture 10
tonnes of plastic packaging, and 1 tonne contains less than 30% recycled
plastic, you will need to pay £200.
The online service
to register and pay will be available on 1 April 2022 when the tax takes
effect.
Temporary insolvency restrictions
protections are being lifted and new targeted measures to support small
business and commercial tenants introduced. The Insolvency Service has
announced that Temporary measures brought in to support businesses from
insolvency during the pandemic will be phased out from 1 October.
Companies in financial distress as a result
of the pandemic have been protected from creditor action since June last year,
through the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020. This was to ensure
that viable businesses affected by the restrictions on trading during the
lockdown periods were not forced into insolvency unnecessarily. As the economy
returns to normal trading conditions, the restrictions on creditor actions will
be lifted.
New legislation will be made to help smaller
companies get back on their feet to give them more time to trade their way back
to financial health before creditors can take action to wind them up.
The new legislation will:
These measures will be in force until 31
March 2022.
Businesses should pay contractual rents
where they are able to do so. However, the existing restrictions will remain on
commercial landlords from presenting winding up petitions against limited
companies to repay commercial rent arrears built up during the pandemic.
Continuing the restriction on winding up, in
respect of commercial rent only, supports the UK government statement that
commercial tenants will continue to be protected from eviction until 31 March
2022, whilst the government implements a rent arbitration scheme to deal with
commercial rent debts accrued during the pandemic.
No capital
allowances for plant and machinery installed in Houses of Multiple Occupation
HMRC have recently
confirmed their view that common areas in Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO)
are parts of a “dwelling house” and ineligible for capital allowance claims.
The capital
allowance legislation specifically denies tax relief for plant and machinery
installed in a dwelling house. However, plant and machinery installed in the
common areas such as hallways, stairs and lift shafts, in blocks of flats would
qualify as the flats themselves are the dwellings, not the building as a whole.
This would seem
inconsistent with the HMRC view on HMOs and there may be a test case on the
interpretation, particularly as there is no definition of “dwelling house” in
the tax legislation. There is also a lack of clarity concerning the status of
University Halls of residence where there is often substantial expenditure on
plant and machinery in common areas.
Enterprise
Nation Female Start-up of the Year 2021
The Female Start-up
of the Year award celebrates the best of British female entrepreneurship in the
UK. Whether you have created an incredible product, offer an amazing service or
you are doing something truly different with your business, Enterprise Nation
want to hear from you.
The judges are
looking for a clear direction for the future of entrants’ start-up with a
vision, purpose and mission. In return, there are business-boosting prizes and
opportunities on offer to the winner.
Applications close
at 5pm on Wednesday 22 September 2021, for further information visit the Enterprise Nation website.
VAT rate reduction for hospitality, holiday
accommodation and attractions.
The reduced VAT
rate of 5% has been extended until 30 September 2021. Following this, an
interim rate of 12.5% will be in place for a further six months with the
standard rate of 20% returning in April 2022.
If you are a VAT
registered business, check if you can temporarily reduce the rate of VAT on
supplies relating to hospitality, accommodation, or admission to certain
attractions.
Hospitality:
If you supply food
and non-alcoholic beverages for consumption on your premises, for example, a
restaurant, café or pub, you’re currently required to charge VAT at the
standard rate of 20%. However, when you make these supplies between 15 July
2020 and 31 March 2021 you will only need to charge 5%.
You will also be
able to charge the reduced rate of VAT on your supplies of hot takeaway food
and hot takeaway non-alcoholic drinks.
More information
about how these changes apply to your business can be found in Catering, takeaway food (VAT Notice 709/1).
Hotel and holiday
accommodation:
You will also
benefit from the temporary reduced rate if you:
More information
about how these changes apply to your business can be found in Hotels and holiday accommodation (VAT Notice 709/3).
Admission to
certain attractions:
If you charge a fee
for admission to certain attractions where the supplies are currently standard
rated, you will only need to charge the reduced rate of VAT between 15 July
2020 and 31 March 2021.
However, if the fee
you charge for admission is currently exempt, that will take precedence and
your supplies will not qualify for the reduced rate.
More information
about how these changes apply to your business can be found in VAT: Admission charges to attractions.
For the full
details including the Flat Rate Scheme, The Tour Operators Margin Scheme,
Retail Schemes and Accounting for supplies that straddle the temporary reduced
rate see: VAT: reduced rate for hospitality, holiday accommodation
and attractions – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Applications are
now open for Rising Stars 4.0
The competition for
innovative, early-stage tech companies has been designed to showcase the best
the country has to offer, providing a platform for businesses from England,
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to shine bright.
Entrants are
supported throughout the application process and given training and support at
each stage of the competition to enable you to compete to ensure your business
is investor ready and deliver the perfect pitch in front of leading investors,
influencers and corporates.
There is a live
Q&A session taking place on the 29 September, where you can find out what’s
required and what you can expect as part of the process. You will also have the
chance to ask any specific questions you have. Applications close on 20 October
2021.
Kickstart Scheme
for employers
Employers of all
sizes can apply for funding to create jobs for 16 to 24 year olds on Universal
Credit. Employers can spread the job start dates up until 31 December 2021. You
will get funding until 30 June 2022 if a young person starts their job on 31
December 2021.
Further funding is
available to provide support so that young people on the scheme can get a job
in the future. You will get £1,500 funding per job. This should be spent on
setup costs and supporting the young person to develop their employability
skills such as training and employability support (provided by you, a Kickstart
gateway or another provider), IT equipment and software and uniform or Personal
Protective Equipment.
You can apply for a
Kickstart Scheme grant by either applying online yourself or applying through a
Kickstart gateway who is already working with the Kickstart Scheme.
The funding covers:
Young people
aged 12 to 15 to be offered a COVID-19 vaccine
People aged 12 to
15 in England will be offered one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine,
following advice from the four UK Chief Medical Officers (CMOs), the Health and
Social Care Secretary has announced.
The government has
accepted the advice of the four UK CMOs and the NHS is preparing to deliver a
schools-based vaccination programme, which is the successful model used for
vaccinations including for HPV and Diphtheria, Tetanus and Polio (DTP),
supported by GPs and community pharmacies. Invitations for vaccination begin
this week.
Click
here for more details about the C19
resources and updates available to 2020 Members.