TODAY is the last day struggling self-employed workers can apply for emergency government cash worth up to £6,750 to help them through the coronavirus crisis.
The grant is available to those whose finances have been negatively impacted by the pandemic.
Applications for the first grant closed on July 13, 2020. The second grant opened for applications on August 17, 2020 and closes today, October 19, 2020.
Under the scheme, the government will cover up to 70 per cent of your trading profits over three months.
It’s capped at £2,190 a month so the maximum you will be able to claim in total is £6,750.
But the grants do count as taxable income, which means you need to enter the amount you receive on your self-assessment tax return for the tax year 2020 to 2021.
The deadline for self-assessment has been extended by Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
How do I apply?
You can apply here on the Gov.uk website.
Self-employed workers will need the following info to claim:
- Self-assessment unique taxpayer reference (UTR) – if you do not have this find out how to get your lost UTR
- National insurance number – if you do not have this find out how to get your lost national insurance number
- Government Gateway user ID and password – if you do not have a user ID, you can create one when you make your claim
- UK bank details (only provide bank account details where a Bacs payment can be accepted).
Am I eligible?
The government has received criticism over the SEISS scheme, with workers saying that it doesn’t benefit everyone.
In order to claim the second payout, self-employed workers have to prove they have been adversely affected by coronavirus on or after July 14, 2020.
To be eligible, you also must have filed a tax return for 2018/19 to HMRC, meaning you must have been self-employed before April 6, 2019.
The grants are calculated based on an average of your profits over three tax years – 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19.
If you didn’t trade in 2016/17, then it will be based on your average profits in 2017/18 and 2018/19, or in 2018/19 if that’s the only year you traded.
You must also earn more than half of your total income from self-employment and your trading profit must be less than £50,000 a year to qualify.
Self-employed workers who are company directors or run their businesses as limited companies cannot apply.
But if you claim maternity allowance this will not affect your eligibility for the grant.
You can be eligible for the second grant regardless of whether or not you claimed the first payment.
