If you are self-employed or a member of a partnership and have been adversely affected by coronavirus you may qualify for two grants under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).
The first grant is claimable now and you must your claim before 13 July 2020 to claim the grant.
The second grant will be claimable in August 2020.
How much will I get if I qualify?
If you qualify under the scheme for the first grant (claimable before 13 July 2020) you will be able to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of your trading profits up to a maximum of £2,500 per month for a three month period. A maximum grant of £7,500. The aim of the grant is to provide income support for the 3 months to 30 June 2020.
The second grant will be worth 70% of your trading profits up to a maximum of £2,190 per month for 3 months, therefore a total grant of £6,570 and will be to provide income support for the 3 months to 30 September 2020.
Please note you can continue to work and still receive the grants.
Who can apply?
You can check if you qualify for the grant at https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/self-employment-support/enter-unique-taxpayer-reference. You will require your 10 digit Unique Tax Reference (UTR) and your National Insurance number to check if you qualify.
You can apply if you’re a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership and you:
- have submitted your Income Tax Self Assessment tax return for the tax year 2018/19.
- traded in the tax year 2019/20.
- are trading when you apply, or would be except for COVID-19.
- intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020-21.
- have lost trading/partnership trading profits due to COVID-19.
- your trading provides are less than £50,000
- Your self-employed income is more than half of your total income. HMRC will consider an average for the trading profits for the last 3 year to 2018/2019.
If you have been trading less than 3 years HMRC will only use the years you filed a Self-Assessment Tax Return. HMRC will use the 2018/2019 Tax Return data to identify those eligible.
How do you make your claim?
To make your claim you will require the following:
- Self Assessment UTR
- National Insurance number
- Government Gateway user ID and password
- Bank account number and sort code
As part of the claim you will be required to self-certify your business has been adversley affected by Coronavirus.
Once you have submitted your claim you will be told immediately if your grant is approved.
Government Gateway user ID and password
You can create a Government Gateway account at https://www.gov.uk/log-in-register-hmrc-online-services and follow the onscreen instructions. You will require your UTR and National Insurance number.
