COVID-19 Update – 30 September – Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) further grant conditions

The government recently announced they will extend the SEISS but details the eligibility criteria will change for the third and fourth grants.

HMRC has released a factsheet detailing the eligibility criteria, stating that taxpayers must:

• Be eligible for the initial grants (although it’s not necessary to have claimed for them)
• Be actively, and intend to continue, trading at the time the grant is claimed
• Be impacted by a reduced demand due to COVID-19 in the qualifying period
  • 3^rd Grant qualifying period – 1 Nov to the date of that claim.
  • 4^th Grant qualifying period – Expected to be 1 Feb to the date of that claim.

Further guidance is expected to be published to clarify the meaning of the requirements to be ‘actively trading’ and ‘impacted by reduced demand’.

The third SEISS grant will provide a taxable sum calculated as 20% of average monthly trading profits paid out in a single instalment covering three months’ worth of profits and capped at £1,875. This level is set to broadly match the government support for employees under the Job Support Scheme (JSS). The fourth grant will be kept under review and set in due course.

The grants will be based on the same tax years as the previous grants, meaning 2019/2020 self-assessment tax return information, even if filed, will not be considered.

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