(CB): My Lords, the
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development says that the lack
of support for limited companies in the self-employed income
support schemes is
“not just a crack: it is a gaping hole in the package.”
It is accepted practice for freelancers to pay themselves through
dividends, contrary to what the Minister says. This applies to a
wide range of workers, from Musicians to
builders to cleaners, whose work is particularly important at
present. Like the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, I ask the
Government to take another look at this.
The Minister of State, Cabinet Office and the Treasury () (Con): I thank
the noble Earl for his point; we discussed this in a Question
last week. I know that in the Chancellor’s response yesterday, he
said that he had been in touch with some of the groups that the
noble Earl mentioned—I think he mentioned the Musicians’
Union, and so on. I am not saying that to take income by
dividend is wrong; as I said last week, a dividend is defined as
a surplus of profit of a business after all its operating costs
have been paid, and the tax is paid and retained profits kept for
reinvestment. That is my point. But what has happened in the week
between our conversation and today is that bounce-back loans are
now available, and that is probably the route for those people
whom the noble Earl is particularly worried about.
