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Can I switch an existing loan facility onto the CBILS scheme?

If a business has been provided with a loan from 23 March on commercial terms, providing the borrower meets the CBILS eligibility criteria, lenders have been asked to bring these facilities onto CBILS wherever possible (e.g. where the lender is accredited to offer the same facility through CBILS) and changes retrospectively applied as necessary. Please contact us if this applies to you and we can review facilities and advise upon the potential changes that may be made retrospectively to the benefit of the business.

Related FAQs

I have recently bought or sold a business. How will earn outs and deferred consideration be affected by coronavirus?

A common feature of corporate acquisitions is that part of the consideration is paid on deferred terms or by way of earn out over a period of years following completion. Where deferred consideration is payable, this is either on the basis that outstanding payments will be made on scheduled dates or, less usually, subject to certain agreed (typically financial) objectives being met. These objectives almost always relate to a period before completion of the deal and are dealt with as part of a completion accounts mechanism.

Can I reduce the risk of IR35 applying?

It is possible to review working arrangements for contractors before the new rules come into effect. This will require immediate action.

You could consider terminating current contracts and entering into new terms that reflect working arrangements for a self-employment arrangement.

Another possibility is encouraging contractors to abandon the PSC model and provide services under a compliant umbrella company.

In the event of a determination of employed status you should seek to enter new terms that at the very least reflect the new tax arrangements .

What can I do as an employer if employees are known to be breaking the local lockdown rules?

This will depend on the particular facts and the employee’s circumstances but an employee should co-operate with the employer so far as is necessary to enable compliance with any statutory duty or requirement relating to health and safety.

In addition, conduct outside of work can result in an employee’s dismissal if the conduct pertains to the employment relationship. If an employee breaches their lockdown rules and it affects their ability to work, such as it being no longer safe for them to attend work, or the reputation of the employer, these may be grounds for disciplinary action and subsequent dismissal.

How should I approach negotiations with my landlord?

Given the impact the Coronavirus is going to have upon the commercial property market, landlords will undoubtedly, as a matter of good commercial sense, will have to seriously entertain approaches from tenants seeking a rent suspension – notwithstanding there is no entitlement to the same under their lease.

Some landlords may decide it is better to waive or suspend rental payments over the short term rather than face their tenants going out of business and leaving them with an empty building in a flat or dead market.

A measure falling short of a rent suspension would be for the tenants to negotiate with their landlord’s monthly payments of rent rather than quarterly and for those monthly payments to be in payments arrears, rather than in advance.

What was the eligibility criteria for the Government’s self-employment income support scheme?

You will be eligible if you are a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership and you:

  • have trading profits of up to £50,000
  • earn the majority of your income from self-employment
  • have submitted a Tax Return for 2019
  • have traded in the tax year 2019/20
  • are trading when you apply for a grant, or would be except for Covid-19
  • intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020/2021
  • have lost trading/partnership profits due to Covid-19