The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) has been a welcome move by the UK Government to support those whose income has been impacted by the global pandemic.
The 5th SEISS grant will be open from 2nd August and close on 30th September.
Information about how people can claim the grant was supposed to be published in late June but was delayed, with HMRC starting to contact people with their personal claim dates in the middle of July.
Eligibility
Generally, those who were eligible for the 4th grant should be eligible for the 5th payment.
To count as eligible, you need to:
– Be a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership.
– Traded in the tax years 2019-20, and submitted your tax return on or before 2 March 2021
– Traded in the tax years 2020-21
– Be currently trading, but are impacted by reduced demand due to Covid
– Have been trading but are temporarily unable to do so due to Covid.
The amount of the final grant will be decided by how much your turnover has been reduced in the year April 2020 to April 2021.
A key point to note is that in order to be eligible, you must reasonably believe there will be a significant reduction in your trading profits due to the impact of COVID-19 between 1st May 2021 and 30th September 2021.
See a full list of eligibility criteria HERE.
How Much Can You Claim?
The grant is taxable and is worth either 30% or 80% of your average trading profits for three months.
If your turnover is down by 30% or more your grant will be worked out at 80% of 3 months’ average trading profits, with this capped at £7,500
If your turnover is down by less than 30% your grant will be worked out at 30% of 3 months’ average trading profits capped at £2,850
What Do You Need To Do?
Firstly, if you haven’t already, you need to get us your latest Self-Assessment as you will need your turnover figure. If you are planning to claim, please let us know ASAP so we can assist and ensure you have everything you need.
Please don’t hesitate to give us a shout if you have any questions!
The Woodville Team