One aspect of the recent budget will please self-employed business owners that have previously been unable to claim under the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) as they commenced trading after 5 April 2019.
As long as you submitted your self-assessment tax return for 2019-20 before midnight 2 March 2021, and you meet the other qualifying criteria – basically that you have been adversely affected by COVID disruption – then you should be able to claim.
Two grants will be available. The fourth grant under the scheme covers February to April 2021. It is worth three months’ average profits capped at £7,500. It can be claimed from late April.
The fifth and final grant covers the period from May to September 2021. The amount of the grant will depend on the impact that Covid-19 has had on your profits. If your turnover has fallen by 30% or more because of Covid-19, you will be able to claim a grant equal to 80% of your average profits for three months, capped at £7,500. However, if your turnover has dropped by less than 30%, you will be entitled to a reduced grant of 30% of three months’ average profits, capped at £2,850.
The final grant can be claimed from late July. At present, this scheme is therefore timed to end 30 September 2021.
Remember, you can only claim the grant if you have been adversely affected by the pandemic.
Grants received under the scheme are taxable and must be considered in working out your profits.