Help Announced for the Self-Employed and Partnerships
The Government have recently extended the help available for those self-employed traders that have been affected by Covid-19.
For those that are eligible, the self-employment support scheme will allow you to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of your trading profits up to a maximum of £2,500 for the next three months.
Those eligible for the grant are:
- Submitted an income tax self-assessment return for the tax year ended 5th April 2019.
- Traded in the current tax year. (2019/20)
- Are trading when applying for support or would be if had not lost trade due to Covid-19.
- Intend to trade in the 2020 to 2021 tax year.
- Have lost trading profits due to Covid-19.
- Your trading profits must be less than £50,000 in the 2018/19 tax year or average less than £50,000 for the past three tax years.
- Your self-employment income must form more than 50% of your overall income.
The above support does not apply to directors or owners of limited companies and for those that started trading after 6th April 2019.
How to apply:
HMRC will be writing to those that they identify as eligible from your tax return submissions with detail on how to make a claim.
Once the application has been made, HMRC will pay the grant direct into your bank account as one lump sum.
HMRC has suggested that they hope to open the claiming procedure by June 2020 but as yet no indication of when payments will be issued has been provided.
Please note, any grant received will be taxable and will need to be included in your income and considered for tax credit purposes.
If you are not sure if you are eligible for a grant, please contact our tax manager, Fran, who will be happy to assist.
Please note that If you are not eligible for the above, please remember your second payment on account due to HMRC by the 31st July 2020, can be deferred. Secondly, you may wish to consider applying for Universal Credit during this period of disruption. Please note that the above support does not apply to directors or owners of limited companies and for those that started trading after 6th April 2019.
