Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEIS)

You may have seen that a recent update from the government has shown encouraging for the Self-Employed. They have proved that they have listened to the needs of Self-Employed people, and below are the further details about what you can claim and if you are viable for the support.

Who can apply for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme

If you are a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership, you can claim the income support from the government. You must have:

• Submitted your Income Tax Self Assessment return for the tax year 2018-19
• Traded in the tax year 2019-20
• Are trading when you apply, or would be except for COVID-19
• Intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020-21
• Have lost trading/partnership trading profits due to COVID-19

Another caveat to the scheme is that you must also have less than £50,000 trading profits, and more than half of your income must come from self-employment. This is determined by making sure at least one of the following applies to you:

• trading profits in 2018-19 of less than £50,000, and these profits constitute at least half of your taxable income
• Your average trading profits in 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 of less than £50,000 and these profits are at least half of your average taxable income.

If you did start trading between 2016-19 HMRC will only use the years for which you filed a Self-Assessment tax return.The HMRC will use your 2018-19 tax return to identify those eligible and will risk assess any late returns filed before 23rd April 2020.

How much will you receive from the Self-Employed Income Scheme?

You will receive a taxable grant which will be 80% of your average taxable profit from the above mentioned years (where applicable). The HMRC will work out the average by adding together the total trading profit for the three tax years then divide by three where applicable, and will calculate an average monthly amount from this.Please note: This will only be up to a maximum of £2,500 per month for 3 months and the grant will be given to you directly to your bank account in one installment.

How do you apply for the Self-Employed Income Scheme?

As of today, 2nd April 2020, you cannot currently apply for the scheme. HMRC will contact you if you are eligible for the scheme and will invite you to apply online.You do not need to contact HMRC to apply. Do not respond to any texts, calls, or emails claiming to be the HMRC which say you can claim financial help or that you are owed a tax refund with a link inside - it could be a scam. You can access the scheme through your GOV.uk account, so do check it regularly.Once the HMRC have received your claim and you are eligible for the grant, they will contact you directly, to inform you the total amount you will receive.If you claim tax credits, you will need to include the grant in your claim as an income.As a note, many directors of companies have been confused about whether they can or cannot claim through the Job Retention Scheme - if you are paid via PAYE from your company, you may be able to get support.