The second and final round of grants under the self-employed income support scheme (SEISS) opened this month, offering a smaller lump sum grant.
From 17 August 2020, self-employed individuals who meet the scheme requirements will be able to access HMRC’s online service and claim up to £6,570 to cover three months’ worth of profits.
This lump sum will be worth 70% of their average monthly trading profits, which is 10% less than previous instalments.
The scheme is available to people who are self-employed or a member of a partnership, who meet the conditions set out by HMRC.
These include having traded in the 2018/19 tax year and submitted a self-assessment tax return either on or before 23 April 2020 for that year, having traded in 2019/20, and intending to continue trading in 2020/21.
Individuals making a claim will be required to confirm their business was adversely affected by coronavirus on or after 14 July 2020.
HMRC’s guidance says business owners should not make a claim based on adverse effects they think may happen in the future, but notes that “if your business recovers after you’ve claimed, your eligibility will not be affected”.
To date, 2.4 million self-employed workers have claimed a total of £7 billion on the scheme.
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