Latest live Q and A With me.

Claire Barrier on the FT is personal finance Editor on My Edit The Weekend Money section.

So I'm coming to you live today from my living room in Hackney.

A CZ you can see around me were working from home at the FT.

At the moment.

I'm sure you are, too, and that does not prevent us from listening to all of the problems that you're having with running your business is claiming help from the government's various support schemes and trying to get through the current crisis on we are here.

We have to give you as much advice and support during that process as we can.

Now.

Over the weekend, we published very stupid or schools showing how people are finding accessing help from various avenues on dhe.

The bad news is that lots of people are falling between the cracks of the various helps games in the government that the moment doesn't seem to be prepared to much.

But the good news is, is that lots of current cases, including me, are out there fighting for more to be done.

So I'm going to start today with a summary of the main things that readers have been getting in touch with me over the weekend.

About We have, of course, got the live YouTube questions that you can post a question which are answer.

I've got an iPad here which, magically wth e f t video team was able to send me your questions on here.

So I concede and respond.

So either comment at the bottom of the art school or on your you chief questions.

That question will get to me, not be online for just over half an hour today.

So since the last human eight that I did a week ago, there's been a renewed urgency in the communications I've been getting from.

Readers will review out there watching about what they're going to do about their businesses.

So just to summarize those key groups who are currently excluded from the help schemes that the government has put in place, most of the people were getting in touch with me are the newly self employed.

These people have been self employed for less than a year.

Ironically, the new tax year starts today, and even if you've got one year's worth off tax records.

That won't be enough for you to claim help under the government self employed scheme they want.

People have already filed a 2018 to 19 tax return self assessment form, and they will be contacting you.

Thio apply for the self employment grant assistance.

If you're eligible and to be eligible, you need to have trading profits of less than £50,000 per year.

So that's the second group of people who are excluded from the government helps teams self employed people.

You have a profit of more than £50,000 per year, some of them very marginal amounts of had lots of really heartbreaking e mails from people who over the course of three years, where the average has worked out from running just above that 51,000 in one case, which means you won't get any support, whereas if you're earning 50,000 or less, you could technically qualify for up to 2.5 £1000 per month for three months, backdated until March.

So that's the 1st 2 groups, another third and most significant group of people who say they're not being offered very much help for the government, all the directors or limited companies who paid themselves predominantly by a dividends.

Now the government scheme doesn't recognize dividend income as income.

It recognizes it is an investment income.

Now nearly 300,000 people have safe are signed an online petition that changed our walk asking for this to be addressed, most off them directors who believe that the dividend income, the way that they take income from their companies should be recognized.

Lots of them.

A pointing out they have to trade is limited companies in order to get work from other, bigger cos it's not something that's being done to massage tax contributions and small business groups.

And also trade unions such as Back to You, which works on behalf of people who work in the TV and film industry, are stepping up their lobbying now.

There has been some movement since I last came on screen.

Some of the rules have been tweaked about business interruption loans in particular, and the government has clarified the rules of some of the support schemes in the last week that the biggest question that's been coming into me from readers, particularly those self employed with limited company directors and consider themselves to be self employed.

The big question is, Could there be more to come?

Could the government tweet?

Things of gain Thio include some of those excluded groups within the support's being so just to give you a flavor of some of the questions and comments I've had FT Reader are W.

Using his initial says, I cannot understand how the self employed Grannis fair or how the £50,000 castle figure was arrived at.

If you were in a little over £50,000 which is hardly a fortune, you can go just as broke that someone you earned a little under on that cuts off, of course, does not exist for the p A y e furloughing scheme, which could technically payout 2.5 £1000 a month to p ay way staff who are earning way more than £50,000.

Now FC read a team Oh, another self employed person e mailed to say he don't qualify for self employed.

Help is his profits were above that figure of £50,000 that he comments.

Both of my staff have been furloughed, but I am left to keep my business running on the income of £96 a week, which is that the amount that you can get through universal credit will statutory sick pay, he says.

This scheme is greatly discriminating against the self employed.

I have friends, a couple who jointly earned in excess of £100,000 of the both paid by a P a Y e.

They have been furlough, so their income is £5000 per month.

Meanwhile, I have the same, if not higher level of outgoings.

Big problem people were arising in and no income to cover them.

So Asai said earlier, by far the highest Williams of emails and messages that I've had have been Ramona directors off limited companies.

Now they span all kinds of sex is I've heard for mortgage brokers from architects of landscape gardeners from people who work in a more traditional trades electricians, plumbers, carpenters, people, buildings, people who need to have a limited company status to protect them from any um, you know, future legal action that also ironically includes small firms accountants who, having so field all kinds of calls from worried clients but at the same time they're limited.

Company structure means that they are paid by dividends and also unable to access how now a big group off them have got together.

They started a hashtag on social media, hashtag forgotten limited, uh, where they're all telling their stories individually of how their business is being facts.

It's definitely worth checking out on their demanding equal of their support for all taxpayers and encouraging people who are limited company directors to write to their empties.

Lobby for Change Well.

Another person who has been speaking up over the weekend in support of limited company directors is John Redwood of the Tory MP for working him and also FT Money Economists.

Now he has published a block post over the weekend, and he's urging the Treasury to include the newly self employed in its scheme off the earnings limit for the self employed to above £50,000 on dhe, the crucial one to take director's dividends into consideration when giving people support on their income.

Now, Mr Edwards says, the government needs to offer downloadable, simple forms now that permit people to apply the money on a self certified basis with adjustments made laser in the year.

Now what he gets is the urgency that businesses need assistance and that urgency is coming through to me loud and clear in all of the emails and messages that you've been sending me now, this idea of self certification is that quite awards, too.

The system that government is proposed, the mayor with it basically would mean we'll give you the money first and ask questions later.

Now that would undoubtedly saved more businesses but would also be more expensive, require more taxpayer money to be paid out on the government and then have to direct resources after the event into order.

Seeing, checking, making sure that none of those claims were fortunate.

We've already heard from the chancellor that he's worried that there would be a huge opportunity for fraud if this wasn't scheme relaxed.

So could they, for example, threatened absolutely huge penalties to anyone who was caught abusing the rules.

That would be one way around it.

And another point that John Redwood makes in his block is that he's hearing from lots of constituency run their own businesses who are very concerned with scheme for furloughing.

P.

A.

Y E staff is yet properly up and running.

We know it's coming, but there's gonna be a delay.

Obviously, in between, the business is applying for what?

The financial support to furlough their staff on 80% pay on there.

Still, a Zaf today isn't any form of people can download Thio apply from that scheme itself.

It's being set up.

Businesses will have to pay staff and then claim the money back.

It probably won't be until May, when they will get the money.

Now, Mr Edwards says, the government needs to speed up the applications and decisions on the furlough scheme the businesses.

Otherwise, more companies will conclude that they have to make people redundant to save costs.

If you want to read any of the things on this block, you can find it online at John Redwood's Diary.

Now, the government's position on all of this is we have contacted the Treasury today.

Essentially, there's no movement that I can report back to you on only directors of limited companies.

As things stand wth, e ft understands that much.

This boils down to the complexity of separating dividends that somebody would receive from their company from dividends that they might receive mother investments like shares in B P.

Well, they you could be really mean and say Well, with the extent of David and cussing going on in the foot.

See, there aren't really all that many dividends shareholders to be excited about right now, saying the self employment helps key.

It's important to know is largely self automated in the sense that because the government has built in that time lag, they know who is going to be entitled to claim for help, and they will be able to approach the self employed.

So you should look out for for a letter in the coming weeks asking you if you want to apply for assistance being on, then you put your application.

Now if you contrast that with what the limited company directors and saying quite rightly, well, we can prove by showing our company accounts or cover of letter from our accountants or an essay three to form that the dividends that we're receiving are from Warren Cos.

We can certify that.

But obviously that would involve people sending lots of information back the other way to HMRC, saying, I'm entitled to claim and all of this of course, builds in more time, more administration, longer wait.

Even if you qualify for the self, employment helps clean.

You gotta wait until early June, the government is saying for the money, which, frankly, is going to be too late for some.

And the government has also reiterated its position that company directors who want to furlough the small p a way p a.

Y e element of their pay can do that.

They can still perform their basic functions as a director, but no more.

So you could technically use that payment.

Normally around £700.800 pounds.

People put through his p a y e if their company director.

So you get 80% of that.

But you would have to further yourself kind of put your business or nights.

Now.

This is a point that Martin Lewis, the money saving expert's picks up, and he's been arguing today that the government should consider that a tweak that requirement for limited company directors to distance themselves from the business.

Now that would bring that scheme in his line with the rules of Self Employment Income perception scheme, where soul traders are still allowed to seat work even when they are receiving income from the government.

Now, Martin Lewis says a tweet to the guidance could allow limited company directors to continue to communicate with their clients and get work ready for when they're furlough ends so that they can restart that speed.

I'm sure everyone agree that is what the economy needs.

So this whole topic, as I'm sure you will imagine, has generated a huge amount of reed of debate, and it's also generated some direct questions.

So I'm going to start off today with a question from FT.

Reader Jauss.

If you want to ask a question, either put it on the bottom of the article or write in the YouTube comments and that will get sent to me.

I'll do my best to answer it.

So let's start off with jobs.

So Joe says, I run a small business, Claire, but my commercial landlord insists on charging us 100 of our rent, even though our building is close.

What can you do to apply pressure?

Well, good.

Take a sip of water jobs before I answer you on this.

Well, that's talking gets to you.

So the short answer is with landlords.

You've got to negotiate on dhe.

You're may be in a better position than you think.

Girls, if your landlord says to you Well, you've paid your late.

You've paid your rent late.

I'm gonna kick you out.

This begs the question.

Who they're gonna get in now?

At the moment, residential property market, A cz effectively shut down because you can't do valuations.

You can't viewings, etcetera.

Etcetera of same technique applies to the commercial property market.

So if that happens and they get the space back, then the landlord's gonna be liable for the business rates on that unit as well.

Under the empty rates rules, which is something we're probably not all that keen to take on.

And also look at the situation with where rents are likely to go in the event of a recession.

I've been reporting on the commercial property market for more than 20 years, and I can tell you it's seen as a recession bites traversing to start falling our commercial rents.

Now your land over it is agreed on rent with you in happier times.

If they can negotiate with you to maybe differ parts of that payment or give you a rental window or 50% rate rents for a while.

That's still gonna be getting more back than they would be if they took the risk of emptying the unit trying to find another tenant.

Now, of course, commercial animals have got big pressures on them as well.

Not least pressure from banks who they're lending from and they won't want.

You know that they want to do everything they can to secure as much incomes.

They can now buy Spectra Property lawyer earlier about where you would stand in terms of the terms of your lease on unfortunately, by the letter of the law, landlords can all make certainly oblige you to keep paying, no matter what's happened.

Normally, if there is a rent suspension clause specified in your lease, it will be to do with something.

Mike, you know, a catastrophic failure of power in the building or flood or fire or something like that.

Similar terms and conditions, in fact, to business interruption insurance, which all kinds of businesses of finding just won't pay out either under the Corona virus so well, they can't go back to your lease and say, Contractually, I feel we're not obliged to pay.

Negotiating clearly is in the interests of both parties.

If you can try and do a deal, and I would love to hear from any readers out there who have be the starting negotiations with with landlords or trying to do that, let us know how you got on now, um, another, um, a group of people who have got in touch with some comments of the over fifties.