Applications for the second grant under the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) can now be made in the same way as claims for the first grant.
The second and final taxable grant is worth 70% of your average monthly trading profits for the 2016/17 to 2018/19 tax years, paid out in a single instalment covering 3 months’ worth of profits, and capped at £6,570 in total.
If you’re eligible and your business has been adversely affected on or after 14 July 2020, you must make your claim for the second grant before 19 October 2020.
Details of the conditions required for eligibility and the way in which the grant is calculated by HMRC can be found here.
You can make a claim for the second grant if you’re eligible, even if you did not make a claim for the first grant.
Decide if you’ve been adversely affected
HMRC guidance states that 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
If your business recovers after you’ve claimed, your eligibility will not be affected.
Making the claim
To make the claim you will need the following information to hand:
- Tax Reference
- National Insurance Number
- Government Gateway user ID and password
- Account number and sort code for the bank account you want the grant paid into
To make a claim, click here.
You do not need to provide any information about your income – the calculations are all done by HMRC based on the tax returns submitted. HMRC will check the claim and they expect to make payments within six working days of the application being submitted.
Other things to remember
You should keep a copy of all records relating to the claim including:
- The amount claimed
- The claim reference number
- Evidence that your business has been adversely affected by coronavirus.
The grant will need to be included as income liable to income tax and NIC on your self-assessment tax return and will also need to be reported as self-employed income for any Universal Credit claims, or as self-employed income and that you are working 16 hours a week for any tax credit claims.
We are in the process of contacting clients that we believe to be eligible for the grant, who should also have been contacted by HMRC. If you have any queries or need any further information, please get in touch.
To find out more about the support that’s currently available, including key support dates that you must be aware of, visit our COVID-19 support hub.
