Furlough Extended to March and Self-Employed Grants Increased

Today the Chancellor has announced that furlough will be extended to March 31st to try and provide businesses with certainty throughout the winter.

The taxpayer will pay 80% of employee’s wages, but this amount will be reviewed in January to see if economic circumstances are improving enough to ask employers to contribute more. At the moment employers will only have to pay the pension and employers NI costs, and can top up the wage delta to employees should they choose to.

Self-Employed Grant Increased

The Chancellor today also announced that the self-employed income support scheme (SEISS) will increase to 80% of average trading profits for December and January also. Previously it was just November as per last week’s announcements. It is expected that the three months will be paid out in one lump sum as previous grants with the claims window opening by the end of November. The total grant will be capped at £7,500.

Job Retention Bonus Postponed

The £1,000 bonus to employers for maintaining each furloughed employee on the books will now “fall away” with further details on a new date expected after the furlough period ends.

*If you would like to subscribe to our blog and receive future posts straight to your inbox then please visit https://www.mallardaccounting.co.uk/news-updates. Your details will solely be used by Mallard Accounting and will never be sold to a 3rd party.