COVID-19 and Self Employment

On Thursday 26 March the Chancellor announced a new Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) to support those whose income has been negatively impacted by coronavirus.

The scheme will provide a grant to self-employed individuals or partnerships, worth 80% of their profits up to a cap of £2,500 per month.

What you need to know

• This scheme is being delivered by HMRC.
• Eligible customers should be advised not to contact HMRC now.
• HMRC will contact eligible customers directly once the scheme is operational. They will then pay the grant directly to eligible customers’ bank account
• Grants are expected to start to be paid out by the beginning of June 2020.

The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme will be treated as earnings in Universal Credit. A customer’s Universal Credit payment will adjust in response to changes in their earnings.

If a customer needs financial help whilst waiting for SEISS, they should check their eligibility for Universal Credit.

Customers can find more information at Understanding Universal Credit and https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the scheme customers must meet all the criteria below:

• Be self-employed or a member of partnership;
• Have lost trading/partnership trading profits due to coronavirus;
• File a tax return for 2018/19 as self-employed or a member of a trading partnership. Those who have not yet filed for 2018/19 will have an additional four weeks from 26 March to do so;
• Have traded in 2019/20; be currently trading at the point of application (or would be except for coronavirus) and intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020 to 2021
• Have trading profits of less than £50,000 and more than half of their total income coming from self-employment.