50% off sounds great until you realise it’s capped at £10, great for the Maccy D end of the market
As already pointed out, it's per head. So a £20 meal becomes a tenner.
I don't class myself as at the 'Maccy D end of the market'. But I'll definitely be taking advantage; likely eating out on every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in August.
It's a win-win for both businesses and consumers AFAICS. No doubt there'll be some price inflation but those venues will simply lose out on trade.
what do people think the government should do?
Get the virus under control, and get track/trace/isolate properly in place, including a contact tracing app, so that our economy can open up again properly. Throwing around ‘incentives’ like this wouldn’t be necessary if it was safe to open up hospitality properly. People are gagging to get ‘back to normal’… they don’t need bribes, they need to know that the virus has been contained, that people aren’t dying, and that any new case (and their contacts) are being quickly isolated to keep things that way.
less well at 6 cover family restaurants and cafes with no outdoor space.
I'd have thought that it would be at those venues where it will work best.
At least in terms of extracting money from the government.
If you have more than £15k in savings you aren’t eligible, plus £73/week or whatever it is, is next to nothing compared with the median wage.
I'm ok with the rules thanks 🙂 (And it's £16k,and "plus £73/week or whatever it is" is flippant and inaccurate for someone that works in something so complicated as pensions)
The rule that someone with over £16k isn't entitled to means-tested benefits is another point for debate - but the one I'm trying to make is that nobody has been left high and dry as is being (repeatedly) suggested. IF someone has to chew through their savings until they have less than £16k, then they become entitled. If they have above that, then the policy is they have other means.
There's inequality in certain groups, of course there is, you try and devise a policy for a global pandemic that encompasses every scenario.
But I don't know what this group of people is that have been left with nothing is?
Edit:
Have you seen the small print for universal credit? If your partner earns a half-decent salary, ie: much more than minimum wage, then you’re entitled to nothing. Many, many, many other terms and conditions apply.
Your missus needs to be earning a fair whack above minimum wage, or working an obscene amount of hours, if you've got two of you in the house, kids and housing costs with no considerable capital at your disposal and you're still not entitled to Universal Credit.
Have you applied?
Meals eaten at any participating business, Monday to Wednesday, will be 50% off in August, up to a maximum discount of £10 per head for everyone, including children
how many people will be complete bell ends and demand this on a Saturday night or Sunday lunch
I’d have thought that it would be at those venues where it will work best.
How? If they can only do two or three covers at once to keep customers apart, and they don’t have a fast throughput, because they are not a fast food establishment in disguise, their problem is that at full flow they can’t afford to pay staff when operating on less than half the usual trade. Demand isn’t the problem then, it’s the lack of ability to function and be profitable while having to mitigate against the virus being at large.
Just give the money to the traders, through a VAT refund based on previous years VAT paid, not some gimmicky Orange Wednesdays style discount aimed at the large chains.
I have been self employed, but paid through PAYE, many times in the past. I’ve always had to complete a self assessment though… if you don’t you’ll get a “you are not registered as self employed” computer says no fail when having to deal with HRMC as regards self employed earnings.
It’s all academic now. Do you know how many self-employed people will be paying tax PAYE by this time next year?
None.
Not after how we’ve just been royally ed over.
It was HMRC’s preferred method and they leant on everyone to do it like that. Well HMRC can * right off from this point on as far as us freelancers are concerned.
Oh, it’s shit alright Binners, no argument from me there.
The same self employed people who earn £12000 a year and happily work cash in hand in the good times?
No silly the ones whinging on facebook they have had to use their savings to make it through the coronavirus outbreak.
Unless you have bankrupted your family to get through the lockdown, stick your attitude up your…
Sorry my idea of self employed is someone who submits a self assessment at the end of the tax year. Not someone who pays through PAYE.
Thats called a formerly disguised employee who has now fallen foul of IR35s your all inside clause because we will beat the hirer with a stick policy.
As for this vouchers twoddle: I’ve got 2 mates who own bars that do food. They operate on slim margins. Their business model is based on having X amount of customers on any given evening.
If their customer base is now 50% of X, then that business model is nowhere near viable. A tenner off a burger on a Tuesday night will make sod all difference to that.
Gimmicky nonsense! The government is making it look like they’re doing something, but it won’t stem the tide of businesses that are about to fold
A photographer was on the Today programme this morning, complaining how she was struggling and couldnt get any state benefits or furlough money.
Then she said she had set up her Company, and not taken wages, but took her pay in dividends. So her actual wage was very minimal, hence no furlough pay.
The Presenter didnt question the Lady any more, though I think I would be asking why she didnt take a regular wage, and then see her squirm, as she tried to not admit that it reduced her tax bill by a lot by only claiming a dividend payment.
I think I would be asking why she didnt take a regular wage
She said she did it because her work was so seasonal, so took dividends out in the summer, and nothing much in the off season. It seemed questionable to me as well, but many business owners do that, rather than paying themselves even a minimum wage as salary (which I would have thought was preferable in every way, including tax wise, if/when possible).
(which I would have thought was preferable in every way, including tax wise, if/when possible).
You really need to pay yourself minimum wage, otherwise you don't get your NI contributions.
as she tried to not admit that it reduced her tax bill by a lot by only claiming a dividend payment.
There really isn't a huge amount in it, because dividends can only come from profits, which have been taxed at 19%, and you pay employers and employees NI.
If you are paid through PAYE then you are not self employed.
Binners, you've not quoted me or answered "have you applied?"
For anyone else wondering if they're entitled, just make a claim at the link below.
https://www.gov.uk/apply-universal-credit
If you are paid through PAYE then you are not self employed.
But according to the government we’re not employed either. Though I’m paying my tax and NI the same as an employee.
Well, what is it? We’re either one or the other
They can’t have it both ways
Oh... actually, apparently they can
Binners, you’ve not quoted me or answered “have you applied?”
I had a look at the criteria and Mrs Binners earnings mean I don’t qualify for the whopping 73 quid a week that would have kept me in the lifestyle to which I’ve become accustomed
Do I get 50% off a Greggs cheese and onion pasty?
I had a look at the criteria and Mrs Binners earnings mean I don’t qualify for the whopping 73 quid a week that would have kept me in the lifestyle to which I’ve become accustomed
Then you've massively misunderstood whatever you read. £73 is if you're single, no savings, no health conditions, no caring responsibilities, no housing costs and no kids.
Stick the bloody claim in or stop perpetuating incorrect facts that put other people off claiming what they are entitled to.
But I’ll definitely be taking advantage; likely eating out on every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in August.
It’s a win-win for both businesses and consumers AFAICS
I think it's madness until there's a vaccine to encourage people to assemble in venues where you can't really wear a mask most of the time you're there. Will the contact tracing app even be ready by then?
Targeted stimuli to help the economy recover is good but encouraging gatherings like that when we're far from having corona-virus under control is just lunacy.
Do you not think you’re sort of missing the point here?
I shouldn’t need to be applying for universal credit. Along with 3 million others, I’ve been paying the same tax as anyone who’s ‘employed’ yet we have qualified for no government schemes as we are, by their definition, neither employed or self-employed.
They’ve not had an issue with it while they’ve been collecting our taxes
Can you not understand how angry we are?
or whatever it is” is flippant and inaccurate for someone that works in something so complicated as pensions
Err, I work in Telecoms....
I shouldn’t need to be applying for universal credit. Along with 3 million others, I’ve been paying the same tax as anyone who’s ‘employed’ yet we have qualified for no government schemes as we are, by their definition, neither employed or self-employed.
Yep, agree 100%, it seems fairly arbitrary to throw billions at one part of the workforce and offer the rest bugger all.
The whole thing is worse than useless, a 30 billion bill that will make no significant impact on the economy.
No industrial or infrastructure strategy!
The food vouchers is a joke
£1000 will not keep someone in a job if there is **** all coming through the door
Creating "false" jobs via a funded job role will not create long term opportunities.
Cutting VAT on Hospitality? So what? You only pay Vat on profit after you have collected it? A business loosing money recovers VAT
All Rishi is doing is trying to extract the money from personal bank accounts back into the economy...
I did think Rishi had a better brain than this.... obviously not.
This is not difficult to fix but it will be painful and the current Tories dont want to discuss the pain as they will be out on their arse next election.
How? If they can only do two or three covers at once to keep customers apart, and they don’t have a fast throughput, because they are not a fast food establishment in disguise, their problem is that at full flow they can’t afford to pay staff when operating on less than half the usual trade. Demand isn’t the problem then, it’s the lack of ability to function and be profitable while having to mitigate against the virus being at large.
Course they'll have a high throughput- seeing how many friends and family they can put through in a day if they each only have a £15 cheese sandwich and a £5 can of some off-brand fizz.
Along with 3 million others,
Are there really 3 million paye freelancers?
You're lucky, you have a partner who's working. It might not feel right to you, and you might not feel like it, but unless you're feeding yourself via the food-bank, you're doing ok in comparison to a lot of others.
Binners I hate to say this and please don't take it as nasty, I think you are unemployed.
I figured that out in March
You’re lucky, you have a partner who’s working.
Believe me, I know how lucky I am. Plenty of people in my position aren’t so lucky. My point is that getting through this shouldn’t be dependent on luck. Anyone seen any suicide stats published recently?
Sorry FF, I thought you worked in Pensions for some reason.
Do you not think you’re sort of missing the point here?
I shouldn’t need to be applying for universal credit. Along with 3 million others, I’ve been paying the same tax as anyone who’s ‘employed’ yet we have qualified for no government schemes as we are, by their definition, neither employed or self-employed.
They’ve not had an issue with it while they’ve been collecting our taxes
Can you not understand how angry we are?
I'm not missing any point.
You said :
I’m self-employed. I pay my tax and national insurance PAYE the same as an employee. I haven’t received a *ing penny of government money despite all my ongoing contracts being shelved in mid-March and no sign of any work. None of us have. In my industry (graphic design) this working model is the norm. There are 3 million of us. All just told to * off and left to fend for ourselves.
You are entitled to lots of Government money, that will ensure that your household has a minimum amount of income. You may be in a group that means they're not doing as well as others in all this shitstorm, and that sucks, but to suggest you're not entitled to anything is wrong.
Object all you want from a political point, but please don't state things as facts when that might stop others claiming what they might be entitled to.
nd that sucks, but to suggest you’re not entitled to anything is wrong.
Oh come on, JSA is next to nothing - it's an absolute pittance of a wage.
You are entitled to lots of Government money
I don't think even BoJo would spin it as "lots"...
It all seems a bit...
"Oh look, there's an otter...."
Not gonna read all the replies but what do people think the government should do
Sorry, didn't read that.
Ah screw it. I tried to help.
To anyone reading anything posted above, its all painfully inaccurate.
Based on what binners and others are saying Rishi Sunak should have put the money directly into peoples pockets.
Can we be trusted not to spend it on Amazon though?
Oh come on, JSA is next to nothing – it’s an absolute pittance of a wage.
Sorry, but you have no idea what you're talking about.
If you are paid through PAYE then you are not self employed.
Not true. We did a whole other thread on this. Can we move it over there, please?
Course they’ll have a high throughput
No, they won’t. Chain ‘restaurants’ that are really just sit down fast food outlets will have high ‘throughput’, this ‘stimulus’ has them in mind, not the kind of business I described.
Self-employed and contractor
A person is self-employed if they run their business for themselves and take responsibility for its success or failure.
Self-employed workers aren’t paid through PAYE, and they don’t have the employment rights and responsibilities of employees.
Someone can be both employed and self-employed at the same time, for example if they work for an employer during the day and run their own business in the evenings.
From HMRC
Seems to me your either employed, self employed or unemployed.
Sorry 3 pages in and nobody has mentioned the hilarious strap line the food vouchers have been given? c'mon people!
Can't help think 'dishy Rishi' did it on purpose in a hope that it (dare I say it) goes viral.
they need to know that the virus has been contained, that people aren’t dying, and that any new case (and their contacts) are being quickly isolated to keep things that way.
I'm sure even you can clearly see that there are lots of cases, and new lockdowns, springing up all over the world in countries that were ahead of the UK.
So it's not contained and it's not going to be contained anywhere for a very long time.
You can bleat on about the government approach all you like but it really isn't that simple.
50% of food costing £20 per head, 5% VAT on hospital? Excellent sign me up looking forward to getting out and repaying the industry that was so kind to us during this.
Seems to me your either employed, self employed or unemployed.
You are indeed Rishi Sunak and I claim my email telling me I’m entitled to **** all
HMRC have now seen fit to classify us as all 3 at the same time, though obviously we are all now only one... the latter, having never apparently been either of the former.
I’m sure we’ll all be arranging our future tax affairs to reflect our new status
Just give the money to the traders
That won't have the same benefit to the wider economy and does no more than the furlough scheme.
Spending money in a restaurant or hotel benefits the whole supply chain above them. A lot of their wholesalers and producers are also suffering a big slump.
Plus unless they are trading nobody will actually be working and earning money, so will be still furloughed. That saving will offset the cost of the VAT cut.
The VAT cut will help a lot of businesses, agreed that it might not make much difference to small ones. Whether they pass on the saving to the customer is up to them, I'd have thought that the majority won't and rightly so if they are struggling.
The £10 voucher thing sounds bonkers and an admin nightmare, but might help encourage more spending on quiet days, which can make all the difference.
There surely is more help to come for other sectors.
And it is utterly crap that self employed and freelancers have still got no help.
Seems to me your either employed, self employed or unemployed.
There are many, many people who have not qualified for either furlough or the self employed support schemes. All over the national news, as well as on here. 30 mins ago one of my mates describing a Sound Eng friend of his who's had to move out of his own house as he cannot afford to live there. Please stop insisting that the govt schemes support all - they don't and insisting that they do is offensive to people who are really suffering due to the crisis.