The Government has announced a raft of measures to help businesses including extended time to pay and tax holidays.
Businesses will not have to make VAT payments due between 20 March and 30 June 2020. They will also have until 31 March 2021 to pay any tax that has accumulated during the deferral period. HMRC has confirmed that deferred amounts will not be subject to interest or penalties.
The Government has also announced an extension of the business rates holiday to all businesses in hospitality and retail sectors regardless of rateable value. This means retail outlets, pubs, cinemas and restaurants will pay no business rates for 12 months.
Additionally, a £25,000 grant will be provided to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses operating from smaller premises, with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000.
These grants which are non-repayable, are available by applying to your local council.
HMRC has put routine tax compliance checks on hold currently, although the work of its Fraud Investigation Service will continue.
The First-tier Tax Tribunal put all proceedings in the ‘standard’ or ‘complex’ category on hold until 30 June for proceedings received by the tribunal before 24 March.
However, this will inevitably lead to a significant backlog in outstanding tax disputes.
Our tax experts are here to help your business. We will explain what measures you can take now to ensure that your tax burden is minimised. We can liaise with HMRC on your behalf if a revised tax payment plan is necessary to sustain your business and we can also mitigate this against and tax refunds due.