If you’re ill or you’ve been advised to stay at home
If you are not eligible for SSP because you are self-employed and you have COVID-19 or have been advised to stay at home, you can now more easily make a claim for Universal Credit or new style Employment and Support Allowance.
If you are eligible for new style Employment and Support Allowance, it will now be payable from day 1 of sickness, rather than day 8, if you have COVID-19 or are advised to stay at home.
If you’re not ill or haven’t been advised to stay at home but you don’t have any income
Apply for Universal Credit (see above) but check that you are eligible first. If you're successful it should help towards your rent as well.
Income tax
For Income Tax Self-Assessment, payments due on the 31 July 2020 will be deferred until the 31 January 2021.
This is an automatic offer with no applications required.
No penalties or interest for late payment will be charged in the deferral period.
HMRC have also scaled up their Time to Pay offer to all firms and individuals who are in temporary financial distress as a result of Covid-19 and have outstanding tax liabilities.
VAT
If you’re registered for VAT the government will allow you to defer VAT payments for 3 months. the deferral will apply from 20 March 2020 until 30 June 2020.
This is an automatic offer with no applications required. Businesses will not need to make a VAT payment during this period. Taxpayers will be given until 5 April 2021 to pay any liabilities that have accumulated during the deferral period. VAT refunds and reclaims will be paid by the government as normal.