Spring Budget 2020 to help UK’s Small Businesses
The Spring Budget, delivered by new Chancellor Rishi Sunak on 11th March 2020, contained measures to help SME’s amidst Coronavirus uncertainty as well as promising a welcome influx of cash to promote the growth of small businesses.
Support for Businesses Affected by Coronavirus
The new government budget included a promise to cover sick pay for up to 14 days for SME’s with less than 250 employees.
Under the Coronavirus ‘Business Interruption Loan Scheme’ a further £1 billion will be set aside to lend to small businesses, with guaranteed amounts up to £1.2 million for SMEs.
As well as this, the Chancellor promised that business rates will be scrapped for small firms in retail, leisure and hospitality until the end of the year, along with businesses that have a rateable value under £51,000. This is to help offset the losses caused by coronavirus. Smaller businesses that do not pay business rates will receive a £3000 grant.
Money for Start-ups and Scale-ups
Aside from the measures included to help combat the effects of coronavirus, during the Spring Budget the Chancellor also announced that there will be a further £130m of new funding set aside to cover loans for start-ups, as well as £5billion for new export loans. It’s hoped that this injection of cash will help to stimulate the economy and encourage growth.
To help UK businesses scale-up, the Government’s budget also included £200 million in new funding for the British Business Bank to invest in growing businesses.
Finally, in order to help businesses further, the HMRC ‘Time To Pay’ service will be scaled up allowing businesses to defer tax payments if they are struggling to meet them.
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