The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme has been extended.
A fifth SEISS grant covering May 2021 to September 2021 will be open for claims from late July 2021, the grant is taxable and will be paid out in a single instalment. The fifth grant will be calculated differently to previous SEISS grants. The grant will be subject to Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions.
To be eligible to apply for the fifth grant you must be a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership, you must also have traded in the tax years 2019/ 2021 and 2020/21 and have submitted a tax return for the 2019/2020 period on or before 2nd March 2021. Full eligibility criteria can be found on the governments SEISS webpage.
The amount of the fifth grant will be determined by how much your turnover has been reduced in the year April 2020 to April 2021.
If your business suffered a reduction in turnover by 30% or more between April 2020 and April 2021 then you will qualify for 80% of three months’ average trading profits up to a maximum of £7,500.
If your businesses reduction in turnover between April 2020 and April 2021 was less than 30% then you will qualify for 30% of three months’ average trading profits up to a maximum of £2,850.
To make a claim you must “reasonably believe there will be a significant reduction in your trading profits due to the impact of COVID -19 between 1 May 2021 and 30th September 2021”
It is important to retain evidence of your business fall in trading profits.
Anyone eligible for the grant, based on their tax returns, will be contacted by HMRC in mid-July 2021 and the online service to claim the fifth grant will be available from late July 2021.
Disclaimer: The information in this article is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. We cannot accept responsibility or liability for any actions you may take, or not take, based on this information.