Further support for the self employed
The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced an extension to the Self Employed Income Support Scheme at the end of last week.
This scheme was originally announced in March 2020 to cover the months of March, April and May and claims started from June. You can find out the details of this first grant here:
https://www.alviscompany.com/blog/post/10402/Support-for-the-self-employed/
What has now been announced is a further second grant, again for three months, that covers June, July and August 2020.
The amount of the grant is less favourable than the first because it is only 70% (first grant is 80%) of average profits for the qualifying period up to a maximum of £6,570 (first grant was £7,500).
Claims for the first grant cease on 13 July 2020. If you are self employed and have not claimed you must do so before this date on this link https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme
The second grant claim can be done in August. There is a further qualification for this and that is you must confirm that your business has been adversely affected by Coronavirus on or after 14 July 2020 and you must keep evidence of how it has been affected. HMRC list some examples of what adversely affected means which we reproduce here:
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 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
Both of these grants are taxable income and will be included as part of your 2020/2021 profits.
If you are eligible we suggest that you claim as soon as possible for the first grant if you have not already because the scheme will close on 13 July 2020. The second grant scheme opens in August.