SEISS, or the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme as it is more formally known, was designed by the Government to help self-employed individuals affected by the pandemic. Offering a number of instalments, the most recent form of support has been issued through the fourth grant. However, according to HMRC, claims for the fourth grant must be made on or before June 1, 2021.
Before making a claim, self-employed people have been urged to check whether the impact of COVID-19 has indeed caused a significant reduction in their trading profits.
This must have been the case between February 1, 2021 and April 30, 2021.
The Government explains: “HMRC cannot make this decision for you because your individual and wider business circumstances will need to be considered when deciding whether the reduction is significant.
“You should wait until you have a reasonable belief that your trading profits are going to be significantly reduced, before you make your claim.
“You do not have to consider any other coronavirus scheme support payments that you have received when deciding if you’ve had a significant reduction in trading profits.”
For example, if a cafe owner has had fewer customers due to restrictions and has only been able to offer take-away service, then she may reasonably believe this will significantly reduce her trading profits.
As a result, HMRC confirms, someone in this circumstance or similar will be eligible to claim the fourth grant.
People who are eligible for the fourth grant will be able to claim their sum online through the Government’s website.
However, they will need certain information to hand in order to make this claim.
This includes:
- National Insurance number
- Self-assessment unique taxpayer reference (UTR) number
- Government Gateway User ID and Password
- Bank account number and sort code
- Address
Individuals who are claiming this form of support for the first time, though, may need additional documentation for questions asked.
This could mean providing a UK passport, details of a credit file, a P60 and one of a person’s three most recent payslips.
Once a person has claimed the fourth grant for SEISS, and this has been approved, Britons can expect the money into their account within six working days.
The fourth grant, however, is not the last form of support for the self-employed which is being offered by the Government.
From July onwards, individuals will be able to receive a fifth grant if they are eligible.
Details on this are set to be released by the Government in due course.
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