Available COVID19 support

Here is some of the latest information about available COVID19 support. This includes the latest on the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the VAT deferral new payment scheme.

SEISS

The online claims service for the fourth grant of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) is now open to all eligible customers. The claims service will close on the 1^st of‌‌ ‌June‌‌ ‌2021.

Upcoming customer contact

In the next few days HMRC will be contacting customers who they believe are eligible for the fourth SEISS grant but have yet to submit a claim, and have previously asked for extra support.

Calculation of the fourth SEISS grant – impact of including 2019-20 returns

The fourth SEISS grant takes into account the 2019-20 tax return, reflecting the most recently available data on a customer’s business profits. This means that customers who received previous grants may find that the amount of the fourth grant is higher or lower than past SEISS payments. The grant calculation is based on an average of the 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 tax returns, where this information is available.

Amending tax returns and the impact on SEISS grants

This section applies to claims for the fourth and fifth SEISS grants only, and amendments made to tax returns for 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. This section does not apply to the first three SEISS grants.

If you were entitled to the SEISS grant at the time of claim, but subsequently ceased to be entitled to all or part of the grant following an amendment to a tax return, when the amendment was made on or after 3 March 2021, you need to contact HMRC if that would reduce the value of the grant by £100 or more.

This should be done within 90 days of making an amendment to your tax return, or receiving the grant – whichever is later.

April CJRS claims

If you haven’t submitted your April claim yet, you must do so by the deadline of Friday‌‌ ‌14^th of‌‌ ‌May.

Employers can currently claim 80% of furloughed employees’ usual wages for the hours not worked, up to a cap of £2,500 per month, to the end of June.

You can claim before, during or after your payroll is processed

What you need to do now

Check you are eligible and work out how much you can claim using CJRS calculator and examples.
Submit any claims for April no later than Friday‌‌ ‌14‌‌ ‌May.
Keep records that support the amount of CJRS grants claimed, in case HMRC needs to check them.

CJRS eligibility for claim periods from May

If you have employees who have previously been ineligible for the CJRS, as they were not on payroll on 30 October 2020, they may be eligible for periods from 1 May 2021 onwards.

For claim periods from May, employers can now claim for eligible employees who were on their PAYE payroll on 2 March 2021. This means they must have made a PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) submission between 20 March 2020 and 2 March 2021, notifying HMRC of earnings for that employee.

You and your employees do not need to have benefitted from the scheme before to make a claim, as long as they meet the eligibility criteria.

VAT deferral – apply now to spread your payments

The VAT deferral new payment scheme is open for all businesses who deferred paying VAT due between the 20^th of March and 30^th of‌‌ June‌‌ 2020 and have been unable to pay in full by the 31^st of March‌‌ ‌2021.

You can apply now to spread these payments – businesses that join by the 19^th of ‌May‌‌‌ ‌2021 can pay in up to nine monthly instalments. The later businesses join, the fewer instalments will be available to them.

Businesses can join the easy-to-use scheme quickly and simply online by 21‌‌ ‌June. To find out more, go to VAT deferral on GOV‌‌‌.UK.