Northern Ireland Economy Minister announces new £20 million scheme to support company directors affected by Covid-19 pandemic

New scheme will provide one-off taxable grants of £1,000 to eligible company directors whose projected taxable income for 2020/2021 is less than £50,000

Northern Ireland Economy Minister Diane Dodds has announced a new £20 million scheme to support company directors affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Setting out details of the Limited Company Directors Support Scheme (LCDSS), which will open for applications on 21 January 2021, Ms Dodds said -

'Many company directors who have been adversely affected by Covid have found themselves in financial difficulty. I am pleased that we are able to help address the gap in national support for this group by introducing a local support scheme.'

Under the LCDSS, company directors will be eligible for an initial one-off taxable grant of £1,000 if they meet all of the following criteria -

• they are a resident of Northern Ireland;
• they are a Person with Significant Control for the company/companies listed in their application (i.e. they hold more than 25 per cent of shares in the company);
• they work in the company/companies named in the application;
• at 31 March 2020, at least 50 per cent of their income came from their director’s salary and dividends;
• their projected salary and dividends from the company for the 2020/2021 financial year is 40 per cent lower than it would have been in the absence of coronavirus; and
• their total projected taxable income for 2020/2021 is less than £50,000.

In addition, the company/companies in which an applicant is a director must -

• be currently trading but impacted by reduced demand due to coronavirus, or previously trading but temporarily unable to due to coronavirus;
• be based and operating in Northern Ireland;
• have been trading at 1 March 2020; and
• intend to continue trading.

For more information, see Dodds announces £20m support scheme for company directors from ni.gov.uk