For those who are Self Employed – you can now check to see if you qualify to apply for the Self Employed Income Support Grant. You will be able to claim at 8am on 15th of May 2020. Click HERE.
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’re eligible and how much grant you may get. But you can follow these steps to help you understand how we will do this and what you can do now:
Who can claim
You can claim if you’re a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership and:
- you carry on a trade which has been adversely affected by coronavirus
- 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
Your business could be adversely affected by coronavirus, for example if:
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 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
To work out your eligibility HMRC will first look at your 2018 to 2019 Self Assessment tax return. Your trading profits must be no more than £50,000 and at least equal to your non-trading income.
If you’re not eligible based on the 2018 to 2019 Self Assessment tax return, HMRC will then look at the tax years 2016 to 2017, 2017 to 2018, and 2018 to 2019.
HMRC have made us aware that your Accountant or adviser cannot make the claim for you. You must make the claim yourself. If you use an Accountant you should contact them if you need any help or support.
How much you’ll get
You’ll 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 they 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 they’ve worked the grant out.
The grant amount they work out for you will be paid directly into your bank account, in one instalment.
How to claim
The online service will be available from 13 May 2020. If you’re eligible, HMRC will tell you the date you can make your claim from. If your claim is approved you’ll receive your payment within 6 working days.
If you’re unable to claim online an alternative way to claim will be available. HMRC will update this page with more information soon.
You do not need to contact HMRC now, as this will only delay the urgent work being undertaken to introduce the scheme.
When you make your claim
You’ll 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’ll 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’re 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’ve claimed
Once you’ve 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’re working 16 hours a week for any tax credits claims
