Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) extended

The Chancellor has confirmed the extension of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), with the announcement of a second and final grant to support the income of self-employed individuals during the Coronavirus outbreak.

The first and current round of grants under the scheme allows self-employed individuals to claim a taxable grant worth 80 per cent of three months’ average monthly trading profits, capped at a total of £7,500 and paid in a single instalment.

It has seen 2.3 million claims to date, collectively worth £6.8 billion.

Applications for this round of grants will close on 13 July 2020. However, the Chancellor has now announced that self-employed individuals will be able to claim a second grant in August. This will be worth 70 per cent of three months’ average trading profits and will be capped at £6,570 in total, also paid in a single instalment.

Individuals do not need to have claimed the first grant to be able to claim the second.

Unlike the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) for employees, self-employed individuals may continue working, begin a new trade or take on new employment while in receipt of a grant.

The full criteria for qualification for the scheme remain unchanged. Applicants must:

• Be self-employed or a member of a partnership;
• Have lost trading/partnership trading profits due to COVID-19;
• File a tax return for 2018-19 as self-employed or a member of a trading partnership;
• Have traded in 2019-20; be currently trading at the point of application (or would be except for COVID-19) and intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020 to 2021; and
• Have trading profits of less than £50,000 and more than half of their total income come from self-employment. This can be with reference to at least one of the following conditions:
  • Trading profits and total income in 2018-19
  • Average trading profits and total income across up to the three years between 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19.

The scheme is not available to people working through their own limited companies.

Further details about how to apply for the second and final grant will be announced on 12 June 2020.