Self-employed and other sole traders eligible for help
FOLLOWING Wednesday’s announcement that more small businesses would be eligible to get financial help from the States, changes have been made to the coronavirus payroll co-funding and business grants schemes.
The changes include extending the payroll co-funding scheme to sole traders and self-employed business owners not normally on the payroll of the business, as well as to charities and social enterprises where their staff are unable to work as a result of current business restrictions.
In addition to the changes, the scope of business activities that can access both the coronavirus payroll co-funding and the small business grants scheme has also been widened to include a number of other services such as cleaning, window cleaning, gardening, pet care, estate agents, architects, facilities management and office management, security and cash transfer activities, freight and goods transfer, excluding food, and dental and dental hygienists.
Policy & Resources vice-president Lyndon Trott, pictured, said they had and would continue to listen to the concerns of businesses.
‘Self-employed islanders and sole traders play a vital role in our community and for our economy,’ he said.
‘It was clear there was a gap in our support measures implemented so far, so we have sought to move at real pace in order to plug that gap and bring equity to the support we are offering.
‘We have also extended the businesses and traders who are in-scope for support.
‘This is also a response to our growing understanding of the need of businesses and traders in our community.
‘We will continue to monitor the impact of the measures we have introduced, and the feedback on them from the business community, and will carry on responding as needed to ensure our economy is as supported as it reasonably can be during these very challenging times.’
The changes come in response to feedback that the support measures in place were not meeting the legitimate needs of a significant number of the self-employed and sole traders in the community.
Support for those business activities added to the scheme will be backdated to 16 March in line with the support provided to the first series of payments of economic sectors.
For business guidance on what is available and who for, visit https://covid19.gov.gg/guidance/business.
The payroll co-funding scheme will be extended so that self-employed individuals – whether operating through a company or as a sole trader – will now also be able to apply
If a self-employed business owner is on the payroll of the company, then a copy of the payroll should be submitted with the claim
Where a self-employed business owner draws their income from the business or a sole trader does not have a payroll set up, they will also be able to claim
As with the payroll co-funding scheme, a self-employed businessman will be entitled to claim 80% of an amount equivalent to Guernsey’s minimum wage. This is currently set at £8.50 per hour and £8.05 for 16- and 17-year olds
Exact details of the claims process are being worked out, but it is expected that self-employed business owners will be able to claim up to a maximum of their usual level of income based on their usual hours worked, at a cap of 42 hours, and up to a maximum of £1,241 per month
It will not be necessary to register as an employer and generate payslips or submit quarterly ETI returns to be eligible to claim
Compliance checks will be carried out on these claims based on social insurance contributions and income tax data
