Extension of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme

The Chancellor has announced plans in relation to the extension of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) for those people whose trade continues to be, or is newly, adversely affected by COVID-19 (coronavirus).

Eligible self-employed people will be able to claim a second and final SEISS grant in August. This will be a taxable grant worth 70% of average monthly trading profits for three months and will be paid out in a single instalment. It will be capped at £6,570 in total.

Eligibility

The eligibility criteria for the second grant will be the same as for the first grant. People do not need to have claimed the first grant to claim the second grant. For example, their business may have been adversely affected by COVID-19 (coronavirus) more recently.

Claims

Claims for the first SEISS grant, which opened on the 13^th of‌‌ May 2020, must be made no later than the 13^th of‌‌ July 2020. Eligible self-employed people must make a claim before that date to receive the first SEISS grant (a taxable grant of 80% of their average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering 3 months’ worth of profits, and capped at £7,500 in total).

It’s really important to note that as with the first SEISS grant, you must make the claim yourself. However, I can help you to prepare your claim by ensuring you have the relevant information ready. The claims process is fairly straightforward. HMRC will calculate the amount of self-employment support individuals will receive and you don’t need to do this yourself.

More information

More information about the second SEISS grant will be available on GOV.‌‌UK on 12‌‌ June.

If you think you might be eligible for the first grant but haven’t yet made a claim you should do so before the 13^th of‌‌ July 2020.

Protect yourself from scams

Stay vigilant about scams, which may mimic government messages as a way of appearing authentic and unthreatening. Don’t give out private information or reply to text messages, and don’t download attachments in emails you weren’t expecting. Search ‘scams’ on GOV‌.UK for information on how to recognise genuine HMRC contact. You can also forward suspicious emails claiming to be from HMRC to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk and texts to 60599.