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Covid-19 support: SEISS second claim service open

Newsletter issue - September 2020.

The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) claims service for the second and final grant is open from 17 August 2020. Individuals eligible for the second and final grant, where their business has been adversely affected on or after 14 July 2020, can make a claim on or before 19 October 2020.

HMRC will provide claimants with a date from which individual claims can be made.

The second part of the grant is based on 70% of earnings and capped at £6,570.

Who can claim?

Anyone who is self-employed or a partner in a firm can apply if they:

• have submitted their self-assessment tax return for the tax year 2018/19 by 23 April 2020;
• traded in the 2019/20 tax year;
• are trading when they apply, or would be except for Covid-19;
• intend to continue to trade in the 2020/21 tax year; and
• have lost trading or partnership trading profits due to Covid-19.

Claims cannot be made by individuals trading through a limited company or a trust.

HM Treasury made an announcement on 17 June that self-employed parents whose trading profits dipped in 2018/19 because they took time out to have children will be able to claim for a payment under SEISS. Further details on this announcement can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/self-employed-new-parents-can-claim-support-grant.

"Adversely affected by COVID-19"

HMRC provide the following examples of where a trade may have been adversely affected by Covid-19:

'•"you're unable to work because you:

• are shielding
• are self-isolating
• are on sick leave because of coronavirus
• have caring responsibilities because of coronavirus

• you've had to scale down or temporarily stop trading because:

• your supply chain has been interrupted
• you have fewer or no customers or clients
• your staff are unable to come in to work."'

Applicants will need to keep evidence that their business has been adversely affected by Covid-19.

HMRC provide the following examples of evidence that may demonstrate that a business has been adversely affected:

• business accounts showing a reduction in turnover;
• confirmation of any coronavirus-related business loans the person has received;
• dates the business had to close due to lockdown restrictions; or
• dates on which the person or their staff were unable to work due to coronavirus symptoms, shielding or caring responsibilities due to school closures.

Exclusions

A person is excluded from the scheme if they are unable to meet at least one of the following conditions relating to 'trade profits' and 'non-trading income' (including earnings, property income, dividends, savings income, pension income).

Condition 1

For 2018-19, the person's trade profits:

• are more than £0 and less than £50,001; and
• they are equal to or more than the person's non-trading income.

Condition 2

The person's trade profits:

• on average, are more than £0 and less than £50,001; and
• in total, are equal to or more than the person's non-trading income.

The average and total amounts are summarised in the following table:

Trading 2016/17	Trading 2017/18	Trading 2018/19	Average/total taken for
Yes	Yes	Yes	2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19
No	Yes	Yes	2017/18 and 2018/19

Condition 2 does not apply where the person began to trade after 6 April 2018 (this includes where they carried on a trade in 2016/17 and 2018-/9 but not 2017/18).

Further guidance

For guidance on making claims, see Claim a grant through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, and Check if you can claim a grant through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

For guidance on trading income, see How HMRC works out trading profits and non-trading income for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

For guidance on eligibility, see Decide if your business has been adversely affected for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.