As a proud Yorkshire based accountancy firm founded over 50 years ago, we are overjoyed to share the news of our inclusion to the Handpicked Accountants network which shortlists the highest calibre of trusted accountants across the country. Our extensive and experienced team of business consultants, accountants, auditors, tax advisors, payroll and legal compliance experts are part of our business journey, assisting in upholding our reputation as a respectable service provider across Barnsley and Leeds. We cater to businesses across Yorkshire, providing a broad range of services which encompass all your business needs, from business valuation, tax consultancy to audit and assurance.

Handpicked Accountants is an online platform which filters the best performing accountants across the country, regardless of their market share or national presence. Businesses on the hunt for a local accountant can turn to Handpicked Accountants to source a reputable provider in their local vicinity, now featuring gbac under the Yorkshire region. Each accountant is rigorously tested to ensure that they meet high customer service standards and have a strong understanding of the industry.

At gbac accountants, we believe in acting on our values to help us deliver unmatched service, driven by our heavyweight management team. We have a dedicated office in Barnsley, which best places us to reach businesses across the North of England.

David Tattersall, Head of Client Relations at Handpicked Accountants, said: “Gbac accountants are an established accountancy firm with a loyal customer base due to business longevity and a team with an impeccable history in the accountancy trade. We are happy to welcome them to the Handpicked Accountants family and adding them to our directory of outstanding accountants.”

The profile for gbac accountants is now active on Handpicked Accountants.

“Our health emergency is not yet over. And our economic emergency has only just begun”.

These were the stark words from the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak yesterday as he delivered the 2020 Spending Review; with little indication as to how the Government intended on balancing the books and instead provided a heavy emphasis on spending in 2021/22:

• There is an extra £38 billion of support for public services in this financial year, bringing the total spending on the Covid-19 response in 2020/21 to over £280 billion.
• In 2021/22 there will be a further £55 billion of support for the response to Covid-19 including provision of PPE, the test-and trace system and the roll out of vaccines.
• There will be £100 billion of capital spending in 2021/22 aimed at kickstarting growth and supporting jobs – £27 billion more in real terms than last year.
• As part of a new National Infrastructure Strategy, a UK infrastructure bank will be created “to catalyse private investment in projects across the UK”. The new bank will be headquartered in the north of England and will start work next spring.
• A new Levelling Up Fund was announced, worth £4 billion. It will be managed jointly between the Treasury, the Department for Transport and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Any local area will be able to bid directly to fund local projects.
• Core spending power for local authorities will rise by an estimated 4.5% in cash terms in 2021/22. Local authorities will be able to increase their council tax bills by 2% without needing to hold a referendum and social care authorities will be able to charge an additional 3% precept to help fund pressures in social care. There will be £254 million of additional funding to help end rough sleeping.
• The business rates multiplier will be frozen in 2021/22, saving businesses in England £575 million over the next five years. The government is also considering business rates reliefs.
• Public sector pay will be constrained in 2021/22. NHS workers will receive an increase. So too will the 2.1 million public sector workers earning less than £24,000 a year, who will be guaranteed a pay increase of at least £250. Outside these two groups there will be no pay rise.
• The National Living Wage (NLW) will increase by 19p from next April to £8.91 an hour, in line with the recommendation from the Low Pay Commission. The age at which the NLW will start to apply will be cut from 25 to 23. The National Minimum Wage rates will also increase.
• £2.9 billion will fund a new three-year UK-wide programme to provide support to help over 1 million long-term unemployed people.
• Spending on overseas aid will be cut from 0.7% of GDP to 0.5% in 2021/22. The cut will be restored “when the fiscal situation allows”.

This ultimately means that Government borrowing is only set to increase. Seven months into the pandemic and with Government support already offered by the way of the Job Retention Scheme (JRS), Self-Employed Income Scheme (SEISS) and local Government grants, albeit to name a few; it is expected that the Government has already borrowed around £215bn in response to the pandemic and with the total expected to hit £394bn this year, this is the highest level seen since the 1960’s.

Underlying the OBR’s (Office for Budget Responsibility) picture of the future path of the UK economy are a range of assumptions and projections, some of which Mr Sunak mentioned in his speech. On the OBR’s central scenario:

• The UK economy is forecast to contract by 11.3% in 2020 without returning to its 2019 level until the final quarter of 2022.
• After 5.5% economic growth in 2021 and 6.6% in the following year, growth tails off to around 1.8% in 2024 and 2025.
• Unemployment will peak at 7.5% in the second quarter of 2021 and then will fall to 4.4% by 2025.
• Borrowing will drop dramatically in 2021/22. This is the result of higher taxes in a recovering economy and an end to many of the temporary financial support measures, such as the CJRS.
• From 2022/23 onwards, borrowing will settle at around £42 billion higher than the OBR had forecast in March.

It is not yet clear how the Chancellor is expected the cover the increase in Government spending over the next few years but the OBR alongside the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Resolution Foundation suggested that around an extra £40bn a year in additional tax would be required over the medium term. This would mean raising tax receipts by around 2% of GDP. Such an increase would require a range of measures across the full tax spectrum.

As the second lockdown took effect on 5 November, the Chancellor returned to Parliament to announce a further extension to the furlough scheme through to March 2021.

The extension of financial support under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) will now run past the original new cut-off of 2 December through to the end of March. Provision is at the same level as that given for August, with employees receiving 80% of their salary for hours not worked, capped at £2,500 per month. Employers have to cover National Insurance contributions (NICs) and workplace pension costs.

Two new job support schemes (JSS Closed and JSS Open) set out in the Chancellor’s Winter Economy Plan will now not take effect, if at all, until the furlough scheme ends.

Differences

One important difference from the previous furlough scheme is that claims can be made for employees notified to HMRC with an RTI submission by 30 October. Otherwise, the extension is similar to the old scheme:

• Employees recently made redundant can be rehired and furloughed if they were employed up to 23 September.
• Businesses will be paid upfront to cover their salary costs.
• Flexible furloughing is allowed, with the employer paying as normal for hours worked. For hours not worked, the employer can make up the employee’s full pay if they wish.
• Employees can be on any type of contract.
• Hours not worked will be calculated by reference to the usual hours worked by the employee.
• The employer’s furlough claim must be for a minimum period of seven consecutive days.
• Neither the employer nor the employee needs to have previously used the furlough scheme prior to 1 November.

The extension will be reviewed again in January to determine whether there is scope to increase employer contributions, depending on economic circumstances.

Additional measures are also available for businesses and individuals affected by this second lockdown, including:

• Cash grants for closed businesses up to £3,000 a month.
• Extension of the mortgage payment holiday for homeowners.
• One-off payment grants from local authorities.

Government-backed loan schemes and the Future Fund are likely to be extended through January in plans yet to be announced, plus options to top-up Bounce Back Loans.

If you require any assistance in assessing your companies situations and requirements, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with a member of our team on 01226 298 298  

INTRODUCTION

Source: ONS

Today’s ‘Economic Update’ by the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, arrived six months and a day after the Prime Minister announced the start of lockdown on 23 March. Twelve days earlier the Chancellor had made his Budget debut, announcing a “temporary, timely and targeted” package of measures to “deal with the coronavirus”. Their estimated total cost was £12 billion.

That figure now looks like small change in terms of the cost of the pandemic so far. This week’s HMRC statistics on the response to Covid-19 show that to 20 September:

• The total value of claims made under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) was £39.3 billion, covering 1.2 million employers and 9.6 million jobs. The CJRS will finish at the end of next month. From the start of October employers will have to meet an additional 10% of the CJRS payments, as well as NIC and pension liabilities.
• The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) received 4.9 million claims across its two payment periods, totalling £13.4 billion.
• Over £58 billion of finance had been approved under the government’s four loan schemes. Almost two-thirds of this was represented by the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) under which the government provides 100% guarantees for lenders to more than 1.25 million small borrowers.

These figures tell only part of the story. There is also the cost of one year’s business rates relief, grant funding and enhancements to social security benefits. The latest (August) central scenario projection from the Office for Budget Responsibility is for government borrowing to reach £372.2 billion in 2020/21 against the £54.8 billion estimate it made at the time of the Spring Budget.

The latest statement from the Chancellor will increase this year’s borrowing further. However, the consensus among economists is that for now, life support for UK plc trumps any consideration of public debt levels. Today Mr Sunak has divided that support into three main areas:

1. Employment
2. Loan arrangements
3. Taxation

EMPLOYMENT

Job Support Scheme

The Chancellor made clear that the CJRS will end on 31 October, as planned. Its replacement will be the Job Support Scheme (JSS), which will run for six months from 1 November. Under the terms of the scheme:

• Employees will need to work a minimum of 33% of their normal hours.
• For every hour that is not worked, the employer and the government will each pay one third of the employee’s usual pay, with the government contribution capped at £697.92 a month. Employees working at least one third of their normal hours will receive at least 77% of full pay, subject to the government cap. Employers will pay at least 55% of normal wages.
• The employer will be reimbursed in arrears for the government contribution.
• The employee must not be on a redundancy notice.
• The scheme will be open to all employers with a UK bank account and a UK PAYE scheme. All small and medium-sized enterprises will be eligible; large businesses will be required to demonstrate that their business has been adversely affected by Covid-19. The government expects that large employers will not be making capital distributions (such as dividends) while taking advantage of the scheme.
• Claims for the JSS will not affect eligibility for payment of the £1,000 Job Retention Bonus announced in July and due from February 2021.

Self-Employment Income Support Scheme

The SEISS will be extended in a new form for six months from 1 November 2020. The scheme’s new terms are:

• The new SEISS grant will only be available to self-employed individuals currently eligible for the existing scheme who are actively continuing to trade but are facing reduced demand due to Covid-19.
• The extension will be in the form of two taxable grants:
• The first grant will cover a three-month period from the start of November until the end of January. This initial grant will cover 20% of average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering three months’ worth of profits, and capped at £1,875 in total.
• The second grant will cover the following three-month period starting in February. The government will review the level of the second grant and set this in due course.

LOAN ARRANGEMENTS

The closing application date for the four main loan schemes will be extended to 30 November.

Bounce Back Loan Scheme

The BBLS provides loans of between £2,000 and £50,000, capped at 25% of turnover, with a 100% government guarantee. Under the original BBLS, the borrower did not have to make any repayments for the first 12 months, with the government covering the first 12 months’ interest payments. The maximum loan repayment term was six years.

Under new ‘Pay as You Grow’ options for BBLS:

• New and existing borrowers will have the option to repay their loan over a period of up to ten years.
• UK businesses will also have the option to move temporarily to interest-only payments for periods of up to six months. This option can be used up to three times.
• Alternatively, businesses can pause their repayments entirely for up to six months, although this option is only available after six payments have been made and can be used just once.

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme

CBILS lenders
will be allowed to extend the term of a loan up to ten years, while retaining the benefit of the 80% government guarantee.

Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme

The Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) will continue in its current form until the end of November.

Future Fund

The operation of the Future Fund, which provides matching convertible loans to innovative businesses will continue in its current form until the end of November.

Covid-19 Corporate Financing Facility

The Covid-19 Corporate Financing Facility, targeted at large businesses and operated by the Bank of England, will remain open until 22 March 2021. Where a company has exhausted all other options, and is of strategic importance to the UK, the government may also consider providing bespoke financial support.

TAXATION

Temporary VAT cut for hospitality and tourism

The reduced (5%) rate of VAT will continue to apply to supplies of food and non-alcoholic drinks from restaurants, pubs, bars, cafés and similar premises, and to supplies of accommodation and admission to attractions across the UK until 31 March 2021 rather than ending on 12 January 2021.

VAT deferral

A ‘New Payment Scheme’ for VAT deferral will offer businesses that deferred VAT due in March to June 2020 the option to spread their payments over the financial year 2021/22 in 11 equal instalments. All businesses that took advantage of the VAT deferral are eligible and can use the scheme. However, they will need to opt in using a process HMRC will launch in “early 2021”.

Self-Assessment Tax Deferral – Enhanced Time to Pay

The self-employed and other taxpayers will be given more time to pay taxes due in January 2021, building on the self-assessment deferral provided for payments on account in July 2020.

Taxpayers with up to £30,000 of self-assessment liabilities due will be able to use HMRC’s online self-service Time to Pay facility to secure a plan to pay over an additional 12 months. The application for time to pay will be agreed automatically when the taxpayer applies using an online form. If the liability exceeds £30,000 or the taxpayer needs longer to pay, the telephone service will still be available to agree a bespoke plan.

This means that self-assessment liabilities originally due in July 2020, and any liability becoming due in January 2021, will not need to be paid in full until January 2022. Any self-assessment taxpayer not able to pay their tax bill on time, including those who cannot use the online service, can continue to use HMRC’s Time to Pay Self-Assessment helpline to agree a payment plan.

If you have any queries on the above information, please do not hesitate to call our office on 01226 298 298 and a member of a team will be able to provide advice and support.

The scheme has been extended and a second grant can be paid to those who are eligible from today’s date (17th August).

If you were eligible for the first grant and can confirm to HMRC that your business has been adversely affected on or after 14 July 2020, you’ll be able to make a claim for a second and final grant from 17 August 2020. The deadline for making a claim is 19 October 2020.

The scheme allows you to claim a grant worth 70% of your average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering 3 months’ worth of profits, and capped at £6,570 in total. The grant does not have to be repaid but will be subject to income tax and self employed National Insurance.

As with the first grant HMRC will contact you if you’re eligible, alternatively when the scheme goes live on the 17^th August you can follow the link below to check if you are eligible to make a claim.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme#claim

Eligibility for the second grant will be worked out in the same way as the first grant.

You can make a claim for the second grant if you’re eligible, even if you did not make a claim for the first grant.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO WELCOMING YOU BACK TO OUR OFFICE!

With effect from Monday 10^th August, our gbac team has moved back to the office on a staggered basis. This is in line with Government guidance following COVID-19.

We wanted to share with you the steps we have taken to ensure that the office is a safe environment for our employees, their families, and our clients. This is the result of a thorough risk assessment which has been completed and revised throughout lockdown. For your information,

• Our team have been split into two social bubbles: ‘Bubble A’ and ‘Bubble B’ and will split their working week between home working and office working in order to adhere to the current social distancing measures.
• Our office now operates a one-way system.
• Hand sanitising stations have been installed around the office, these primarily being at the main touch points: outside the office door, in Reception, outside our meeting rooms and in our Kitchen area.
• Each member of staff has been provided with a personal “care pack”. This includes hand sanitiser, tissues and antibacterial wipes which will be replenished as / when required.
• We maintain a stock of PPE (face masks, visors, gloves etc). Our employees are not required to wear PPE under current guidelines due to the social distancing measures we have in place but we want to ensure that these are available in case employees choose to do so when in the office.
• Our office underwent a full deep clean on Friday 7^th August and will continue to be deep cleaned each evening following our return to the office.
• Meeting room capacity has been reduced to enable us to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
• Microsoft Teams / Zoom / Skype will continue to be part of daily business life to ensure that communication is not affected.
• Our risk assessment has been shared amongst our gbac team and feedback / discussions have been carried out during our time spent working from home to help devise a new office procedures manual to ensure that our employees are happy and comfortable with office life post COVID-19.

How might this change affect our clients:

We pride ourselves on being a welcoming team so we encourage clients to come into the office and speak with us. There have to be slight adjustments to how we do this so that we can ensure the safety of our employees, our clients and visitors.

We kindly ask the following:

• All visits to gbac office must be made by appointment. This is to ensure that we can adhere to social distancing measures. We have limited meeting room space and we cannot always guarantee that you can be seen, under COVID secure guidelines, if you turn up without an appointment.
• Once you arrive at the office, we have hand sanitising stations placed outside the front door and in Reception, it would be greatly appreciated if you could sanitise upon arrival.
• In line with updated Government guidance, face coverings must be worn by visitors entering our office. Therefore, we kindly request that you adhere to these rules to keep yourselves and our staff members safe and reduce any source of transmission of the Covid-19 virus. If you cannot wear a face covering due to medical reasons, please let us know in advance of your meeting.
• Face coverings must be worn throughout the duration of your visit.
• In line with Government guidance we will ask you for your contact details which we will hold on record for 21 days in respect of the track and trace programme and in line with GDPR regulations. The 21-day period reflects the incubation period for COVID-19 (which can be up to 14 days) and an additional 7 days to allow time for testing and tracing. In the event of a Covid-19 outbreak at the office, we will contact you to alert you using the contact details you have provided us with.
• All meeting rooms have been re-designed with social distancing measures in mind and a one-way system is in operation around the office. However, we do ask clients to go no further than our Reception desk.
• At this moment in time we will be unable to offer hot drinks. However, bottles of water will be provided. We ask that you dispose of these yourselves upon leaving the office or in the waste bins provided in the meeting rooms.
• We will be leaving 30-minute gaps between meetings to ensure that each room can be thoroughly cleaned and there is no cross-over between any two parties to limit any unexpected interaction with any other individuals.

We are grateful for your support and understanding during this phase which sees us start to welcome back clients to our office for physical meetings. Your safety and that of our gbac team and their families is at the forefront of every decision made. If you have any queries about our COVID-19 secure plan or wish to discuss any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Charlotte Ward on 01226 298 298.

Cycling has received a significant boost since the Coronavirus crisis, with more people cycling to avoid public transport and get back to work. Cycle-to-work schemes give tax benefits to both employers and employees.

How the scheme works:

• Employers can register directly with most major retailers that support this scheme, typically by completing an online application, and chooses the scheme parameters, e.g. the spend limit.
• Employees can choose their bike and accessories in-store on online, make an online application to the scheme and agree the terms and conditions of the lease agreement.
• Once the employer approves the application, the employee may collect the bike, components and/or accessories from the retailer.
• The employer receives an invoice from the retailer for payment and implements a salary sacrifice scheme.

What are the tax benefits of a salary sacrifice arrangement:

• The employer recoups the bike cost from the employee via a salary sacrifice arrangement (a monthly deduction from gross salary) of the lease payments.
• Since a portion of the salary is foregone, the employee pays less tax and National Insurance Contributions on the amount sacrificed, i.e. the cost of a new bike and safety accessories.
• Employers also receive a 13.8% saving on Employers’ NIC.

What assistance are available to employers:

You can set up and run your own salary sacrifice scheme, or there are Cycle to Work scheme providers who can run a scheme for you.

Scheme providers usually have access to nationwide retailers with a wider range of brands of bikes, components and accessories, that will cater to employees’ preferences.

What to watch out for:

• It is ultimately the employee’s responsibility to look after the bike, and if the bike is lost, damaged or stolen the salary deductions will still continue until the end of the hire period.
• Specific rules apply if an employee were to leave your company, be made redundant or go on extended sick or maternity leave in their salary sacrifice period.
• The government provides a voucher scheme to employees for financial assistance with bike repairs costs.

If you require assistance and / or advice regarding the scheme or the administration of the salary sacrifice arrangements through your payroll, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with a member of our team.

The Covid-19 furlough scheme has been effectively revised into a new scheme running from 1 July until 31 October, but this comes with a level of complexity that did not exist in its original guise.

Much of the complexity arises because employers can now bring furloughed employees back to work flexibly on a part-time basis, while still being able to claim under the scheme for the hours not worked.

One very important change is that claims cannot now straddle months. This is because the scheme rules will change from month to month.

From 1 July, only employees who were furloughed under the original scheme ending on
30 June are eligible for further grants. However, the minimum three-week furlough period has now been removed.

Hours worked

For flexibly furloughed employees, employers will have to calculate the employee’s:

• Usual hours – There are two different calculations depending on whether an employee works fixed or variable (or zero) hours. The calculation can be confusing and may not always deliver the obvious answer, especially for employees on variable or zero hours.
• Actual hours worked – This could be an issue for directors who have no fixed hours. Accurate record keeping will be essential for both employees and directors. For hours actually worked, employees must be paid their normal wage.
• Furloughed hours worked – Simply calculated as usual hours less worked hours.

A new written agreement is required for flexibly furloughed employees to confirm the new arrangements.

When claiming for flexibly furloughed employees, employers should not claim until they are sure of the exact number of hours that will be worked during the claim period. If a claim is made in advance and fewer hours are worked than expected, a refund will have to be made to HMRC.

Maximum number

With certain exceptions, the maximum number of employees included in a furlough claim from 1 July onwards cannot exceed the highest number of employees included in any claim up to and including 30 June.

HMRC has provided various worked examples of how to calculate an employees’ wages, NICs and pension contributions.

If you require assistance and / or advice calculating your furlough claim, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with a member of our team. 

If you are self-employed or a member of a partnership and were eligible for the first self-employed income support grant, you will be eligible to claim for the second and final grant from the 17^th
August 2020, provided that you can confirm with HMRC that your business has been adversely affected by COVID-19 on or after 14th July 2020. 

The scheme works in the same way as when your first claim was made, with the only difference being that the grant is based on 70% of your average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering 3 months and capped at £6,570 in total (the first claim was based on 80% of your average monthly trading profits).

You can make a claim for the second grant if you’re eligible, even if you did not make a claim for the first one. 

To claim you’ll need your:

• Government Gateway user ID and password – if you do not have a user ID, you can create one when you make your claim
• UK bank details (only provide bank account details where a BACS payment can be accepted) including:
  • bank account number
  • sort code
  • name on the account
  • your address linked to your bank account

It is expected that the final date you will be able to make your second and final claim is 19th October 2020.