The second Self-Employed Income Support Scheme grant is now open for eligible people to claim. Most people will be contacted directly by HMRC to let them know they ‘may’ be eligible. However, just because HMRC think you may be eligible, it does not automatically make it so.
Updated 17 August 2020
The eligibility criteria for second Self Employment Income Support Scheme grant are the same as the first. You must:
- have submitted your Income Tax Self Assessment tax return for the tax year 2018-19.
- traded in the tax year 2019-20;
- be trading when you apply, or would be except for COVID-19;
- intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020-21; and
- have lost trading/partnership trading profits due to COVID-19.
Those with trading profits above £50,000 will not be eligible for the scheme. That means those that declared profits above £50,000 in 2018-19 or averaged above £50,000 for the last 3 years.
Those who have part-time jobs will be free to apply as long as the majority of their income is made up from self-employment income.
However, in addition to the above requirements, you must consider if your business has been adversely affected since 14 July 2020. If this is the case, you should qualify.
To be ‘adversely’ affected your business must have experienced lower income and/or higher costs due to COVID-19 since 14 July 2020. There is no minimum amount by which a business’s income, costs, or activity need to be affected by. However, you will be expected to keep evidence of how you have come to your conclusion and, be prepared to show it if requested.
Most businesses will have had some form of additional costs in the form of PPE and enhanced cleaning requirements. Proving lost income may be trickier for some but, a comparison to last year’s trade should suffice.
For more information please contact us.
