UK Provides Further Series of Support Measures for COVID-19 Including a Job Retention Scheme and VAT Deferral

The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announced on 20 March 2020 a further series of measures to support people, jobs, and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two of the main measures for businesses include:

• a new Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which enables employers to contact HMRC for a grant to cover most of the wages of people who are not working but are furloughed and kept on payroll, rather than being laid off (covers 80% of the salary of retained workers up to a t…