The Fourth Self-Employment Income Support Scheme Grants Are Now Available
Are you Self-Employed and have been struggling to get through the pandemic? Help could be on the way, as the Government announced the fourth phase in their Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grants, designed to help Self-Employed people whose businesses have been hit by Covid-19. You may have the opportunity to apply for one of the grants – but you must make sure your application is both correct and within the window.
What Is the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme Grant?
SEISS was introduced by the Government in 2020 to help self-employed people or people in a partnership who have been impacted by Covid-19. The fourth grant covers the period of trading from the beginning of February 2021 to the end of April 2021.
It takes the form of a single-payment grant, which is taxable but with no other strings. Calculations are based on 80% of your average trading profits for any three months over the period 2016-2020, and the grant is capped at £7,500.
For example, if your average trading profits over the period were £42,000, three months would work out as £10,500. 80% of this would be £8,400, but as this is over the cap, you would only receive £7,500. If, on the other hand, your trading profits were exactly half of this (£21,000), your entitlement would be £4,200, and you would receive this amount.
How Do I Know if I am Eligible for the Grant?
To receive the SEISS grant, you must operate a business on a Self-employed or Partnership basis. The conditions to be fulfilled are that:
- You have trading profits of £50,000 or less.
- You must have traded during the tax year 2019-2020.
- You must have filed a Self-Assessment tax return for 2019-2020 by 2nd March 2021.
- You have suffered significant reduction in your trading profits, either because of reduced business or inability to trade due to Covid-19.
You may be eligible to apply for the fourth SEISS grant whether or not you have received any previous grant under the system. Unlike the previous phases of the grant, this is open to people who submitted their first tax returns as Self-employed in the tax year 2019/20.
How Do I Apply for the Grant?
The grant is already open for application. All applications must be made before 1st June 2021.
If HMRC believes you are entitled to apply for the grant, they will contact you, either by email, letter or by a message through your Government Gateway account and explain how to go about applying. This process has already begun, and you may have received a message informing you of your individual date you can claim from.
You’ll need to go through the relevant page on the Government’s website, remembering that you need your:
- National Insurance number
- Self-Assessment Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) number
- Government Gateway user ID and password
- Bank account number and sort code
If you have not claimed before, you could also be asked questions to prove your identity. These may relate to things like your passport, your tax return, or any credit that is on your file.
As a grant for a Self-employed individual, the fourth SEISS grant must be applied for by the person it relates to. This means, unfortunately, that Grace Certified Accountants will not be able to apply on your behalf.
However, this doesn’t in any way prevent you from asking our advice and help, which we’d be happy to provide, so get in touch with us to find out more about applying for your fourth SEISS grant.
I hope this information helps your business run more smoothly through these difficult times.
Stay safe
Director & Managing Partner
Grace Certified Accountants
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