Hot off the press as always, here’s a useful summary of today’s (July 8th 2020) announcements from Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Mini Budget, which we have put together with client Carbon Accountancy. We hope this will be helpful for our SME business owner readers.
The government has announced some significant new measures to help the economy. As always, the devil is in the detail, so what we have set out below is a summary of what has been announced alongside some of the questions that still need answering. We will post updates as and when some of the details are clearer.
Stamp duty
From today there will be a stamp duty holiday for all properties sold up
to £500,000. The holiday will last until 31st March 2021. The holiday only
applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland, not in Scotland which
is subject to the devolved Scottish Parliament.
The statement said it applied to properties; that may mean that land is
not subject to the holiday and it might mean that commercial properties
are not covered – we will have to wait and see.
Hospitality and Leisure
Some parts of the hospitality industry (including pubs, restaurants,
tourist attractions and accommodation) will benefit from a reduction in
VAT from 20% to 5% from 8th July 2020 to 12th January 2021. It looks
like it applies to food but not drink, so food-led pubs will be winners.
We wait to see the detail.
In addition, he has announced a voucher scheme for the month of
August 2020 – 50% off the bill (presumably food only) up to a maximum
of £10 per person (including children’s meals).
As in all these announcements, terms and conditions apply – it is for
participating outlets only and it can only be used Monday to
Wednesday. It sounds a bit gimmicky at first glance – but it is designed
to boost the food sector and also more importantly spread the business
out over the whole week in an industry that typically has very poor
takings Monday to Wednesday but where outlets are packed on
Thursday to Sunday – so it will also help social distancing!
They are building a new website where food outlets can register to
participate and are promising fast payment of all vouchers.
Unfortunately the announcement is silent on fitness and other leisure
sectors of the economy, so it looks like they will not benefit.