The Chancellor has recently announced an extension to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) with a third and fourth grant becoming available, covering the period of November 2020 to April 2021.
UPDATED 5/11/2020
The third grant will cover a three-month period from 1 November 2020 until 31 January 2021. The taxable grant will cover 55% of the average monthly trading profits (for the three month period) with a cap of £5,160. The grant will be paid out in a single instalment covering three months’ worth of profits.
Who can claim?
To be eligible for the grant extension, self-employed individuals, including members of partnerships, must:
- Have been previously eligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme first and second grant (although they do not have to have claimed the previous grants)
- Declare that they intend to continue to trade and either:
- Are currently actively trading but are impacted by reduced demand due to coronavirus
- Were previously trading but are temporarily unable to do so due to coronavirus
The requirements to be ‘actively trading’ and ‘impacted by reduced demand’ are new terms and HMRC are expected to publish further guidance to clarify the meaning of these.
The phrase ‘impacted by reduced demand’ is likely to be defined narrowly.
You will be asked to declare that your business has been affected between 1 November 2020 and the date of your claim. HMRC will provide full details about claiming and applications in due course.