TaxAssist raises concerns to chancellor about COVID-19 small business support measures

Open letter outlines four key issues clients and franchisees would like to see addressed

Daren Moore, group commercial director of TaxAssist Accountants, has written an open letter to chancellor Rishi Sunak requesting he reconsiders key elements of the government’s support and intervention packages. 

Following the flurry of recent announcements from the government on new initiatives to support small businesses and the self-employed, the TaxAssist support centre team has been working flat out to offer guidance to its network of accountants and their 76,000 clients.

While many of TaxAssist’s clients will welcome the measures announced so far, large sections of the business community have been overlooked, without the help and funding they need, according to the company, which has a nationwide network of franchisees in the UK.

Daren says: “While we support many of the measures announced to date, we are concerned that large sections of the business community are suffering and that these measures will not provide the help and funding they need.

“We are already seeing our clients under stress and we risk seeing many thousands of small businesses fail without prompt action.”

In his letter, Daren outlined four key issues that TaxAssist’s clients and its franchisees would like to see urgently addressed, including:

• Sole/small company directors and their ineligibility to be furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

• The proposal to look at three years for averaging purposes, leaving those who commenced trading since April 5, 2019 financially stranded.

• The unfairness of the £50,000 trading profit threshold.

• The need for emergency funding to speed up the flow of money.

“As a proud and ethical franchisor, we will take every available opportunity to use our voice to highlight the needs and concerns of our core clients - small businesses - the lifeblood of the UK economy,” Daren says.

“In these difficult times, we need to support and protect them in any way we can, now, to ensure that the sector remains intact and fully functioning when the recovery does come.”

A copy of the letter that was sent to Rishi Sunak can be viewed here.