Grants under Self Employed Income Support Scheme – SEISS 3 November

There will be further amounts offered under SEISS through to spring of 2021.

At the moment, nobody whose previous profit figures ruled them out will qualify. (For example those with average profits over £50,000.)

Taxpayers who were eligible before may apply, but note that the questions will be different when the next application is made. In particular, there will be a question this time about whether there is less demand/fewer customers since March of this year, for businesses affected.

As before, anyone applying must read the questions carefully and ensure that the declaration is correct at the time it is made. Unless there are specific questions asking about future plans (eg intention to keep trading), SEISS grants are based on the situation at the time the boxes are ticked.

The next, third, claims open during the last week of November via Government Gateway. After several changes, on 5 November the Chancellor announced that the next amount will be 80% of the ‘test profits’, up to a maximum of £7,500. This is the same way that the first (spring 2020) amount was calculated. It is intended to assist during November, December and January. (Details of plans for a further grant expected for February to April 2021 have not been released yet.)

For any taxpayer who qualified before based on their figures, but did not claim, they can make this as their first claim under SEISS if they can now answer yes to all the questions in the declaration.

SEISS grants are part of taxable profits for income tax, but are outside the scope of VAT.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/self-employment-income-support-scheme-grant-extension/self-employment-income-support-scheme-grant-extension 

 

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8879/ 

Extended payment deadlines for income tax

Taxpayers with payments on account due 31 July 2020 have already been allowed to delay payment until January.

The Chancellor has announced that there will now be a concession for payments due in January 2021, allowing later payment.

HMRC anyway runs a helpline to agree ‘time to pay’ arrangements. It may be that the new concession will mean payment can be delayed without the need for any formal agreement, possibly without interest being charged. I shall update on this as further details are announced.

 

Further grants under Self Employed Income Support Scheme

NOTE:

DEVELOPMENTS SINCE THIS WAS WRITTEN CAN BE SEEN IN MY NOVEMBER 2020 POSTS

The SEISS is being extended to two further payments.

The most recent (second) payment can be claimed until 19 October.

Following that, two further payments will be available to taxpayers who qualified for the previous payments, and based on the same past profits as before. The third grant will be 20% of those profits, to a maximum of £1,875, and will be available late autumn. The fourth grant planned for 2021 has not been outlined yet, but as support is generally being tapered off, I would expect this to be not more than the third amount.

Claims will be made via the same Gateway portal, and as before there will be questions to answer and a declaration to make, which must be true at the date the grant is claimed. All SEISS amounts received must be declared in that year’s tax return, and are subject to income tax and national insurance.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme

Second Self-Employed Income Scheme

This opens today and runs until 19 October.

Details of who is eligible to claim are similar to before, but this time taxpayers are asked to consider whether their business has been adversely affected by coronavirus on or after 14 July 2020 (up to the date of claiming). The amount of the taxable grant is lower than before, 70% of relevant income, to a maximum of £6,570. Taxpayers who claimed a first amount and qualify to claim again can expect to receive 87.6% of the first amount they received.

Unfortunately there has been no move to extend eligibility to self-employed taxpayers who fall outside the original criteria, for example because they are newly trading, do agency work, or had profits averaging more than £50,000 per year.

Claims can be made by logging in here:

https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/self-employment-support/enter-unique-taxpayer-reference

and taxpayers will need their

  • 10-digit tax reference (UTR)
  • National Insurance number
  • Gateway login details
  • Bank details

Claims are staggered, so the first login may bring up a message showing the earliest claim date as a day within the next week.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme

Self-Employed Income Support 2 coming August

The Chancellor has announced a second and final taxable grant for some self-employed individuals.

This will be lower than the first by about 12.5%, and the maximum will be £6,570.

I assume that the qualifying conditions will be the same as before. This would mean that only those entitled to claim first time around will qualify again, and then only if their business is still adversely impacted during the period June to August 2020.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-extends-self-employment-support-scheme-and-confirms-furlough-next-steps

SEISS payments

For self-employed taxpayers who qualify and who have applied, payments are coming through.

There are a few issues still to resolve: in particular a very small number of clients incorrectly shown as ineligible. These are gradually being corrected, but although these are minor glitches in what is overall an efficient new system, this is a stressful time for anyone whose claim has been held up.

Creative and performing arts are among the hardest hit industries at present, but the self employed are resourceful folk. I am impressed at how quickly many clients have adapted to give performances or deliver lessons online, or to continue with writing or coaching during these different circumstances. (Here, the kitchen is now doubling as a venue for guitar lessons via zoom.) Also, where some are looking at other job routes, it is fascinating to learn what other talents and interests they have. I may end up with a client portfolio including bakers, gardeners and electricians.

A question mark hangs over whether the welcome but limited support offered to the self employed will be extended. The new taskforce for Cultural Recovery and Renewal is a promising step, but this will not be a swift process.