Chancellor’s Winter Economy Plan: ‘Job Support Scheme,’ ‘pay as you grow’ and VAT cuts

Businesses forced to reduce employee working hours because of the coronavirus crisis will be legible for government wage subsidies of one third of lost pay, The Chancellor has announced. To continue supporting businesses with cashflow, bounceback loans will be merged with a new ‘pay as you grow’ scheme and government guarantees for CIBLS will be extended for up to ten years, and the deadline for all loan schemes will be extended until the end of 2020 whilst government works on a “new successor loan guarantee programme” to start in January 2021. The VAT bill, due to be paid in March 2021, will instead be spread over 11 smaller payments without interest for those businesses who need it, and the Chancellor has cancelled the planned increase in VAT (back to the standard rate of 20%) set for January, with VAT remaining at the reduced 5% rate until 31 March instead.