Rishi Sunak - 3 is the Magic Number

UNITED KINGDOM / AGILITYPR.NEWS / September 24, 2020 / Rishi Sunak appears to be taking a continental approach to the extended job scheme, requiring an employee to work 33% of their hours (minimum) and with the employer and government sharing the pay for remaining hours not worked a third each, at a capped amount, say leading tax and advisory firm Blick Rothenberg.

Robert Pullen, a partner at the firm said: “ Whilst this is of course good news, here are the three areas Rishi has missed out on:

1. Supporting the thousands of business owners who operate through a company and draw dividends – they largely missed out in the first round of support, and remain side lined now.
2. Setting out a longer-term vision – what will happen in 6 months? Is the Government committed to support jobs and businesses well into next year? Rishi should have committed to stopping the U-turns and instead provide an environment that will enable businesses and individuals to plan not just for the next 6 months, but for the next 2 years.
3. Although the VAT “lump sum” payment in March has been recognised as being a massive hurdle (and rightly it is now being spread out), no thought has been given to individuals who face a similar problem in January when both their delayed payment on account from July 2020, the balance due for the 2019/20 tax year, plus the first payment on account towards 2020/21 will be due at the same time. A pay-monthly option should be available for those individuals affected

We hope these issues can be addressed as soon as possible.”