Welcome to the November Technical Newsdesk

It was once famously said that a week is a long time in politics, but it appears that a day is a long time in the current COVID-19 environment. No sooner had we outlined some of the key qualifying criteria for the new Job Support Scheme in our webinar on 8 October, when on 9 October the Chancellor announced an extension to the scheme to include businesses which are required to close their premises due to coronavirus restrictions. Further changes to the scheme were also announced on 22 October, as well as an enhanced level of support for the self-employed. Our interactions with HMRC have also become much more 
‘real time’ recently, as we work with them (often at very short notice) on their delivery and guidance for the variety of new and existing support schemes designed to help businesses and employees over the coming months.

There are still a lot of other things going on in addition to the COVID schemes – which is why (for the second month in a row) my introduction is necessarily brief: because there is so much to report. It is also why, from a ‘bandwidth’ perspective, we breathed a sigh of relief when the Chancellor announced that there would be no Autumn Budget this year. 

We already expect our efforts to increase in a number of areas, such as Making Tax Digital and the tax administration framework (to name just a few). As I am sure you know, we rely on our volunteers to help us with our interactions with HMRC and other policymakers, based on their experience on the ‘front line’. 

You will see that this month we are keen to hear from members who may be willing to join our Digitalisation and Agent Services Committee, which will consider both of these areas. If you think you can help, we would be delighted to hear from you.