I have been reading through all of the updates from the Government in regards to the SEISS grant and they have released further details about the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme in regards to how it will work for the second payment.
You do not need to have received the first grant in order to take advantage of the second grant, but if you do want to receive the initial grant amount which is based on 80% of your average monthly trading profits (capped at £7,500 in total), you have until 13/07/2020 to do so. The first payment will no longer be available after 13/07/2020.
You will be able to claim for the second amount in August 2020 and you must confirm that your business has been “adversely affected” on or after 14/07/2020. HMRC have provided some examples of what they mean by “adversely affected”:
– you aren’t able to work because you are shielding, self-isolating, are on sick leave due to coronavirus or have caring responsibilities due to coronavirus
– you have had to scale your business down or temporarily stop trading because your supply chain has been interrupted, you have fewer, or no, customers/clients or your staff are unable to come into work.
You will also still need to meet the criteria for the first grant:
– traded in 2018/2019 tax year and submitted your self-assessment tax return on or before 23/04/2020
– traded in the 2019/2020 tax year
– intend to continue to trade in the 2020/2021 tax year
The second payment will be 70% of your average monthly trading profits and will be paid out in a single instalment covering a further 3 months’ worth of profits. It will be capped at £6,570 in total.
At this point in time, HMRC have not given any indication that they will be using a different time period to calculate the amount you are entitled to. It is my understanding that they will still only be looking at the tax returns for 2018/2019, 2017/2018 and 2016/2017 and will calculate the average monthly amount using the exact same method as the first grant – the only difference being it will only be for 70% this time. If HMRC indicate differently, I will update the information and post about it.
The portal for checking eligibility for the second grant doesn’t exist yet as the first grant hasn’t closed. As soon as it is open for people to check their eligibility I will share the link to do so.
HMRC have been updating the various articles they have on SEISS to include information about the second grant and you can read those pages here:
Check if you can claim: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme
How different circumstances affect the grant: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-different-circumstances-affect-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme
I am continually monitoring the updates that the government and other business-related departments release and will continue to share that information for as long as I feel that it is beneficial to all businesses in the UK.
The information and policies are continually being updated by the government, so I urge you to keep on top of the information by visiting the relevant website for your area.
UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses
Scotland: https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/
Wales: https://gov.wales/business-and-employers-coronavirus
Northern Ireland: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/
I will be trying to keep myself as informed as possible and will share relevant information on my fb business page: https://www.facebook.com/ihelmenterprises/