Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) Round Five

They have directly contacted taxpayers that they believe are eligible, in recent weeks, and provided personal claim dates. You can make a claim from your personal date until the claims service closes on 30th September 2021:

Claim a grant through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme

HMRC’s detailed guidance for the fifth round of SEISS confirmed the following:

Eligibility

• Trading profits in 2019/20 no more than £50,000 and at least equal to income from other sources.
• Intend to continue to trade in 2021/22; and
• Reasonably believe there has been a significant reduction in their trading profits due to reduced business activity, capacity, demand or inability to trade due to Coronavirus from May 2021 to September 2021. You need to keep evidence supporting this declaration.

Turnover

Unlike previously, there are now two levels of grant, depending on the impact of Coronavirus on turnover in 2020/21.

• where turnover fell by 30 per cent or more, the grant is 80 per cent of three months’ average trading profits, capped at £7,500 in total.
• where turnover fell by less than that, the grant is 30 per cent, capped at £2,850 in total.

If you have already completed your 2020/21 Self-Assessment you can find your turnover figure there. Do not include ‘other income’.

SEISS grants, Eat Out to Help Out payments and local authority or devolved administration grants do not count towards turnover figures for the scheme.

If you have not yet have completed your Self-Assessment, you should:

• Use your accounting software
• Or bookkeeping or spreadsheet records of invoices and payments received
• Or check your business bank account for money coming in from customers

Compare this turnover figure with the 2019/20 Self-Assessment to calculate the percentage fall in turnover. 

Where 2019/20 was not a normal trading year, you may use the turnover from your 2018/19 Self-Assessment. However, you must show how 2019/20 was not a normal year. For example:

• Carers’ leave, long-term sick leave or having a new child
• Reservist duties
• Lost a substantial contract
• Did not submit a 2019/20 return for reasons , such as having a new child, that mean you are still eligible for a grant.

If you began trading in 2019/20 and did not trade in any of 2018/19, 2017/18 or 2016/17, you may claim 80 per cent of three months average trading profits, capped at £7,500 in total, as long as you meet the other criteria.

if you are in a partnership, you should use turnover for the partnership as a whole, unless you have another business (either a sole trade or partnership), in which case you use your share of partnership turnover.

Tax treatment of the grant

SEISS grants are subject to Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions and must be included on a 2021/22 Self-Assessment. Grants count toward annual allowances for pension contributions.

Please contact us for help and advice,