Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what urgent financial support he is planning to put in place for directors of small businesses who have so far been ineligible for covid-19-related support.

The Government has provided a substantial package of measures throughout this pandemic to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods and to support businesses and public services across the UK, spending over £407 billion. In order to support businesses and employees through the next stage of the pandemic, the Chancellor announced at Budget the extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) until September.

Directors who pay themselves a salary through PAYE are eligible for the CJRS. Those paid annually through PAYE have been and still are eligible to claim, as long as they meet the relevant conditions including being notified to HMRC on an RTI submission within the relevant cut-off dates.

There is no practical way to identify directors who have been unable to access the SEISS or CJRS, and then identify the value of support they should receive, without exposing the taxpayer to significant fraud, legal risk and poorly targeted use of public money. The Government has worked closely with business groups on proposals to support directors who pay themselves through dividends. However, no proposal has been able to address the significant fraud risks in relying on self-certification.

The CJRS and SEISS are only two elements of the wider economic support package. Businesses and individuals may have access to further funding announced in the Budget such as the Restart Grant of up to £18,000 to business premises, and an additional £425 million to English local authorities for discretionary business grant funding. The Government is also extending previous VAT reductions and business rates relief, extending the temporary £20 per week uplift in Universal Credit, and has announced a £500 one-off payment to provide similar support to eligible Working Tax Credit claimants.