Claim Self-employment Income Support Scheme Grant

Get up to £7,500 from the government if you are self-employed

Find out if you are eligible to Claim Self-employment Income Support Scheme Grant of up to £7,500.  Details of the Self-employment Income Support Scheme have now been published to support the self-employed or members of a partnership with trading income.  You will need to claim this cash yourself.  Your accountant will not be able to do this on your behalf.

Who can apply for the Self-employment Income Support Scheme?

You can apply if you’re a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership and you:

• have submitted your Income Tax Self Assessment tax return for the tax year 2018-19 by 23rd April 2020
• traded in the tax year 2019-20
• are trading when you apply, or would be except for COVID-19
• intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020-21
• have lost trading/partnership trading profits due to COVID-19

What do I need to make my claim?

To claim self-employment income support scheme cash you will need your:

• Self-assessment UTR
• National Insurance number
• Government Gateway ID and password
• Bank account details for the grant payment

What do I need to do now?

Make sure you can log in to your Government Gateway account.  This is your online account with HMRC.  If you have never logged in or you have lost your password  / ID, make sure you can access it now!  You can register for the Government Gateway here.  To find your lost UTR number look up your previous tax returns or letters from HMRC.

If you have forgotten your user ID or password, there is a page here to reset your details.

How can I prove that I have been adversely affected by COVID-19?

Almost every business has been negatively affected by coronavirus, including the following:

• 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

You can apply if you’re a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership and you:

What are the income criteria for the Self-employment Income Support Scheme?

Your self-employed trading profits must be both:

• less than £50,000 and
• more than half of your income come from self-employment.

To work out your eligibility HMRC consider your 2018 to 2019 Self Assessment tax return first.  Your trading profits must be no more than £50,000 and at least equal to your non-trading income.  Non-trading income includes

• Rental Income
• Employment Income
• Dividends
• Capital Gains

If you’re not eligible based on the 2018/2019 Self Assessment tax return, HMRC will then look at the tax years 2016/2017 and 2017/2018.
For businesses that started trading between after April 2016, HMRC will only use those years for which you filed a Self-Assessment tax return.

Can my accountant Claim Self-Employment Income Support Scheme cash for me?

Your tax agent or adviser can’t make the claim for you.  You must make the claim yourself.  If you use an agent you should contact them if you need any help or support.

How much you’ll get

You’ll get a taxable grant which will be 80% of the average profits from the tax years (where applicable):

• 2016 to 2017
• 2017 to 2018
• 2018 to 2019

To work out the average HMRC will add together the total trading profit for the 3 tax years (where applicable) then divide by 3 (where applicable), and use this to calculate a monthly amount.

It will be up to a maximum of £2,500 per month for 3 months.

When will the scheme open for applications?

The online service will be available from 13th May 2020.  If you’re eligible, HMRC will tell you the date you can make your claim from.  If your claim is approved you’ll receive your payment within 6 working days.

DO NOT CONTACT HMRC YET!

As you can imagine, HMRC are currently inundated with new work at the moment and have to do this with a reduced workforce due to COVID-19.

HMRC will contact you if you are eligible for the Self-employment Income Support Scheme and invite you to apply online.  Individuals do not need to contact HMRC now and doing so will only delay the urgent work being undertaken to introduce the scheme.

You will access this scheme only through GOV.UK.  If someone texts, calls or emails claiming to be from HMRC, saying that you can claim financial help or are owed a tax refund, and asks you to click on a link or to give information such as your name, credit card or bank details, it is a scam.

The best thing you can do (apart from file any late accounts) is to make sure you have access to your HMRC online account.  This means when the grants are ready to be paid, you will be able to log in and make your claim.

I have received emails offering to help me with my application – are they safe?

If you receive texts, calls or emails claiming to be from HMRC, offering financial help or a tax refund and asking you to click on a link or to give personal information, it is a scam.  You should email it to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk and then delete it.  Remember no-one else can claim Self-Employment Income Support Scheme funding on your behalf.