The Self Employment Income Support scheme has been thankfully extended. If you were eligible for the first grant and can confirm to HMRC that your business has been adversely affected on or after 14th July 2020, you’ll be able to make a claim for a second and final grant from August 17th 2020.
The scheme allows you to claim a second and final taxable grant worth 70% (first grant was 80%) of your average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering 3 months’ worth of profits, and capped at £6,570 in total.
As with the first grant HMRC will contact you automatically if you’re eligible and will be based on the same eligibility criteria as the first grant. Nothing has therefore really changed other than your grant will be 10% less.
Again the second grant does not need to be repaid but will be subject to Income Tax and self-employed National Insurance and will be paid directly into your bank account in one instalment.
Who can claim?
You can claim if you’re a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership and your business has been adversely affected on or after 14 July 2020.
Your business could be adversely affected by coronavirus if, for example:
You’re unable to work because you:
- Are shielding
- Are self-isolating
- Are on sick leave because of coronavirus
- Have caring responsibilities because of coronavirus
- You’ve had to scale down, temporarily stop trading or incurred additional costs because:
- Your supply chain has been interrupted
- You have fewer or no customers or clients
- Your staff are unable to come in to work
- One or more of your contracts have been cancelled
- You had to buy protective equipment so you could trade following social distancing rules
HMRC have also given a few examples of what they consider adversely affected: Click here to find out more.
You must keep evidence to confirm your business was adversely affected at the time you made your claim such as proof you monthly invoicing is down or medical records.
Making the Claim
The claim cannot be made before 17th August 2020 but must be made before 19th October 2020 and has to be made online in exactly the same way the first claim was made using the same government gateway user ID and password.
As with the first claim we as agents are unable to claim on your behalf but please feel free to contact us for any queries you may have on how to claim.
Warning
There are loads of HMRC scams and Covid – 19 scams going around at the moment so you need to be extra careful. If you receive texts, calls or emails claiming to be from HMRC, offering financial help or a tax refund and asking you to click on a link or to give personal information, it is a scam. You should email it to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk and then delete it.
As always if we can assist you in any way please get in touch with our team, we are here to help you and your business through this difficult time.
Stay safe
Exchange Accountants.
