Within the last few months, the government has been focussing on trying to help rebuild small businesses to reboot the economy after the crushing effects of Coronavirus. Some of the steps taken by the government to help rebuild small businesses in the UK include making changes to tax regulations and offering online courses to help develop your business mind as well as provide potential discounts on new digital technologies your business may need.

Diving into the more detailed explanations of what has been done for small businesses, in April, the Employment Allowance on National Insurance Contributions has been increased from £4,000 to £5,000. This means that roughly 30% of all businesses in the UK could save up to £1,000 per year. Building on this, many small businesses in the UK (including retail, hospitality, and leisure) will be able to receive 50% off their business rates bills. Green technologies such as solar panels will also receive a 100% relief from being included in the business rates bill. On top of this, the government has reduced fuel duty on petrol and diesel by 5p per litre for twelve months from 23^rd March 2022 to 22^nd March 2023. This will provide both businesses and the general population to make savings and free up money to develop their businesses and lives.

Whilst the above changes focus on helping small businesses to rebuild, there are also changes made to help businesses grow to a larger scale. The prominent improvement made around this area is the Help to Grow scheme which is a government backed scheme providing small businesses with the know-how and facility to adopt certain technologies that will help their business to run more efficiently and be able to support a larger scale. Enrolment in this scheme also allows small-medium sized businesses to receive 50% off certain new software packages up to a value of £5,000. Another way in which businesses are being helped and encouraged to grow is through the super-deduction tax cut has been extended allowing businesses to reduce their tax bills through purchasing new equipment and machinery for their business. The way this works is that for every £1 spent on new equipment, 25p can be deducted from your final tax bill for the business.

To summarise, the five steps which have been taken to reduce strain and help businesses in the UK grow are:

1.      Increased NIC Employers allowance from £4,000 to £5,000.

2.      50% off business rates for small retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses as well as 100% discount of business rates on green technology.

3.      Reduced fuel duty by 5p per litre.

4.      Help to Grow scheme helping businesses develop the technical side of their business and increase efficiency as well as providing discounts on certain technology packages.

5.      Super deduction allowing companies to claim 25p off their tax bill for every £1 spent on new machinery and equipment.