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08 May Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS)

Posted at 13:38h in COVID-19 by

Over the last week HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have been writing to individuals who are eligible to claim under this scheme. If you are self-employed or a member of a partnership and have been adversely affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) find out if you can use this scheme to claim a grant.

The scheme will allow you to claim a taxable grant of 80% of your average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering 3 months, and capped at £7,500 altogether. This is a temporary scheme, but it may be extended.

If you receive the grant you can continue to work, start a new trade, or take on other employment including voluntary work, or duties as an armed forces reservist.

The grant will be subject to Income Tax and self-employed National Insurance.

HMRC will work out if you are eligible and how much grant you may get.

 

Self-Employed Income Support Scheme at a glance

  • Same level of support as PAYE employees who face redundancy because of coronavirus
  • Up to 80 per cent of typical earnings capped at £7,500 altogether. Income tax and national insurance still payable
  • Open to anybody with income up to £50,000 according to their 2018-19 tax return
  • Money paid by HMRC straight into your bank account – no need to contact taxman
  • Available to people who make the majority of income from self-employment
  • Only those who have submitted a tax return for 2018-19 tax return, can apply

 

Who can claim?

You can claim if you’re a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership and:

  • you traded in the tax year 2018 to 2019 and submitted your Self-Assessment tax return on or before 23 April 2020 for that year
  • you traded in the tax year 2019 to 2020
  • you intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020 to 2021
  • you carry on a trade which has been adversely affected by coronavirus

 

Your business could be adversely affected by coronavirus if, for example:

you are unable to work because you:

  • are shielding
  • are self-isolating
  • are on sick leave because of coronavirus
  • have caring responsibilities because of coronavirus
  • You have had to scale down or temporarily stop trading because:
    – your supply chain has been interrupted
    – you have fewer or no customers or clients
    – your staff are unable to come in to work

 

Check if you are eligible to claim

You can use the online tool to find out if you are eligible to make a claim. We can also use the online tool to check your eligibility on your behalf.

You will need your:

• Self-Assessment Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) number
• National Insurance number

Check now by clicking here (https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/self-employment-support/enter-unique-taxpayer-reference) or get in touch with our office and we can check for you. By checking you will also be given a date and time for when you can make your claim.

 

How much you will get

You will get a taxable grant based on your average trading profit over the 3 tax years:

• 2016 to 2017
• 2017 to 2018
• 2018 to 2019

HMRC will work out your average trading profit by adding together your total trading profits or losses for the 3 tax years, then we will divide by 3.

The grant will be 80% of your average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering 3 months, and capped at £7,500 altogether. The online service will tell you how HMRC worked the grant out.

The grant amount will be paid directly into your bank account, in one instalment.

 

When you make your claim

You will only need your:

• Self-Assessment UTR – if you do not have this find out how to get your lost UTR
• National Insurance number – if you do not have this find out how to get your lost National Insurance number
• Government Gateway user ID and password – if you do not have a user ID, you can create one when you check your eligibility online
• bank account number and sort code you want us to pay the grant into (only provide bank account details where a Bacs payment can be accepted)

You will have to confirm to HMRC that your business has been adversely affected by coronavirus.

If you claim the grant HMRC will treat this as confirmation you are below the state aid limits.

 

HMRC will check claims and take appropriate action to withhold or recover payments found to be dishonest or inaccurate.

 

After you have claimed

Once you have submitted your claim, you will be told straight away if your grant is approved. HMRC will pay the grant into your bank account within 6 working days.

You must keep a copy of all records in line with normal self-employment record keeping requirements, including:

• the amount claimed
• the claim reference number for your records
• evidence that your business has been adversely affected by coronavirus

You will need to report the grant:

• on your Self-Assessment tax return
• as self-employed income for any Universal Credit claims
• as self-employed income and that you are working 16 hours a week for any tax credits claims

 

Our ethos at Infinity has always been that we are not just your accountants, but we are your partners in business and in these difficult times this has never been more important. We want to assure you all that we are doing everything we can to help you and should you have any question, big or small, please get in touch, we are here to help.

 

Please connect with our team on LinkedIn and Twitter using the following links.

Simon Cowie – Managing Director – https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-cowie-ab36714b/
Greg Houston – Associate Director – https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-houston-95900a42/
Mark Rhynas – Tax Manager – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-rhynas-att-1712265b/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/InfinityABDN