COVID-19 Hub

Self Employed Grants (4th & 5th SEISS)

Self-employed grants

Two further grants are to be made available under the Self-employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS).

The 4th grant which covers February to April 2021, will be 80% of profits, up to a maximum of £7,500. HMRC will contact potentially eligible taxpayers in mid-April and applications will be open from late April until the end of May 2021. This will be based on profits in the 2019/20 tax year but if you are ineligible in that year HMRC will then look at tax years 2016/2017 through to 2018/19.

The 5th grant covers the period May to September 2021 but is based on three months profits. Claims can be made from late July, but note that this grant will work differently to the others:

• If turnover has fallen by ≥30%, it will be 80% of profits, up to a maximum of £7,500

• If turnover has fallen by <30%, it will be 30% of profits, up to a maximum of £2,850

If you started a business in 2019/20 and were not eligible for the first three grants may be able to claim the 4th and 5th grants if they meet the revised qualifying conditions, including having filed a 2019/20 tax return by 2 March 2021. However, many people are still ineligible for these grants, including traders whose profits were previously over £50,000 and taxpayers who have less than 50% of total reported income from self-employment.

Some points on the new SEISS grants still need to be clarified by HMRC but it has been confirmed that any grant received will be taxable in the tax year of receipt, irrespective of the business’s accounting period.

SEISS new grant claimants

In order to try to combat fraud, HMRC has been writing to newly eligible taxpayers, asking them to complete pre-verification checks to confirm evidence of trade. These letters notify taxpayers that HMRC will phone them within 10 working days. When HMRC call they will ask the taxpayer to confirm their email address and agree to receive a link to a secure Dropbox.  They will then have two days to upload one form of identity and three months of bank statements to demonstrate their business activity, before the link expires.

HMRC has confirmed it will make three attempts to phone, so taxpayers who receive the letter should check that HMRC holds the correct telephone number for them. If the number needs to be updated, they must contact 0800 024 1222 (a line only to be used for updating telephone numbers). If HMRC is unsuccessful in reaching the taxpayer, it will write a further letter. Taxpayers who receive the letter but do not complete the checks cannot claim a grant.

This, therefore, represents a change in policy from HMRC in that they previously stated that taxpayers would not be contacted by telephone and if you receive a call from someone purporting to represent HMRC then this could be ignored. This is clearly not the case now in relation to the SEISS 4th grant onwards.

Please contact Richard Winterman if you have any queries.

Government extends Furlough to March and increases self-employed support

Workers across the United Kingdom will benefit from increased support with a five-month extension of the furlough scheme into Spring 2021, the Chancellor announced today, 5 November.

The Chancellor’s Winter Economic Plan

We have compiled some helpsheets to assist you navigate the new business support measures:

LATEST updated 07/01/21 measures PDF

Older Helpsheets

Previous measures:-

The government have recently announced a package of support measures to help businesses through this period of disruption caused by COVID-19.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call us. All our employees are currently working from home and are fully equipped to do so.

The most reliable and accurate source of regularly updated information can be found here:-

www.gov.uk/coronavirus with specific financial support information here:-

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support