Who claimed corona cash?

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Who claimed corona cash?

Chanel, Greggs, and Tottenham Hotspur are all among the companies who’ve borrowed millions via the Bank of England’s covid corporate financing facility (CCFF) to stay afloat. Under the CCFF, the Bank creates money and lends it directly to large companies by buying their short-term bonds. It’s lent £16 billion this way so far. To get the cash, companies have to be big employers and generate a lot of revenue.

Adviser comment: This is happening because people have been ‘battening down the hatches’ over recent weeks, so luxury and non-essential items and activities are struggling the most.

We’re not feeling good

The consumer confidence index, which measures the way we’re all feeling about the state of our finances, went down to -36 in May. It’s now at its lowest level since 2009. Uncertainty in things like job prospects and house prices mean that people tend to spend less and try to save more.

HMRC reopens investigations

The tax people have been a bit preoccupied in the last few months, so inquiries were on pause. But it’s now restarting investigations* into companies and individuals suspected of tax dodging. The government’s overall tax take is down 42% compared to last year, so there’s a big incentive to get cracking and find any tax that’s gone unpaid.

Adviser comment: This is simply just the HMRC getting back to normal.We should take the opportunity to remind you, whether you are employed or self-employed, that you never know when HMRC might look into your tax affairs. Investigations into innocent errors can  go back up to 4 years, and up to 6 years into what they deem careless tax returns.

Europe gets its purse out

The European Central Bank (ECB) has put even more cash into its own bond-buying scheme to try and prop up struggling eurozone countries. The ECB has now spent a total of €1.35 trillion on its rescue programme, which will run until June 2021.