Register your restaurant for Eat Out to Help Out

Restaurants and cafes can now register to be part of the government's Eat Out to Help Out Scheme to offer a discount to diners during the month of August.

The scheme was unveiled in the Summer Economic Update as a way of encouraging people to eat out after lockdown to help the food and drink industry.

Those businesses which register can use the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme:

• all day, every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 3 to 31 August 2020

• to offer a 50% discount, up to a maximum of £10 per person, to diners for food or non-alcoholic drinks to eat or drink in

• to claim the money back from the government

There is no set limit to the number of times diners can use the offer during the August period.

Only customers who are eating or drinking can be offered a discount, and alcohol and service charges are excluded from the offer.

Who can register

An establishment can register for the scheme if it:

• sells food for immediate consumption on the premises

• provides its own dining area or shares a dining area with another establishment for eat-in meals

• was registered as a food business with the relevant local authority on or before 7 July 2020

However, the following cannot register:

• an establishment that only offers takeaway food or drink

• catering services for private functions

• a hotel that provides room service only

• dining services (such as packaged dinner cruises)

• mobile food vans or trailers

Registration requirements

To register, a restaurant must have a Government Gateway ID and password for the business, or create one when registering. It must also have a UK bank account.

The following details may also be needed:

• VAT registration number

• employer PAYE scheme reference number

• Corporation Tax, Self Assessment or Partnership Self Assessment unique taxpayer reference

Your Bishop Fleming advisor can provide these if you do not have them to hand.

Details of each establishment being registered will be required, but where there are more than 25, a link can provided instead to the website of the business which contains details of each venue participating in the scheme.

HMRC may also request further details about the participating establishments.

Once Registered

Once registration is completed, a scheme registration reference number will be provided for claims and certain promotional materials can be downloaded.

The name, address and website of the restaurant will be added to a publicly available list for potential customers to check..

To make any changes to the registration details, such as adding or removing a venue, HMRC will need to be contacted.

Discounts to customers cannot be offered until 3 August, and it is expected that the restaurant will offer the discounts during the whole of its opening hours on all the eligible days that it is open, and on all qualifying sales of food or drink.

If a customer purchases a meal with the intention of eating it, but then takes it away and leaves the premises, the discount can still be applied.

Records to be kept

Records must be kept during participation in the scheme of the:

• total number of people who have used the scheme in each establishment

• total value of transactions under the scheme for each venue

• total amount of discounts given for each venue

Making a claim

The claims service will open on 7 August 2020 and will close on 30 September 2020.

New registrants must wait 7 days from registration to make their first claim and HMRC will pay eligible claims within 5 working days.

A restaurant will be able to submit claims on a weekly basis, and as HMRC may take 5 working days to pay the claim this does create a cash flow issue for the business of up to a fortnight

VAT will still need to be paid on the full amount of a customer's bill.

Any money received through the scheme will be treated as taxable income.

HMRC will provide more guidance on how to make a claim when the registration service is open.

Other help available

HMRC has published guidance with more information on eligibility and how to offer the discount.

NHS have introduced the test and trace service to help track the spread of coronavirus.

The Chancellor has also made a Treasury Direction in relation to the scheme.

If you would like to discuss this scheme, please contact a member of our Food and Drink team or your usual Bishop Fleming advisor in the first instance.

For more help and guidance check out our Business after COVID-19: Transition Knowledge Hub and our Food and Drink Knowledge Hub.