The final deadline for making a claim under the 5th Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) is 30 September 2021. The SEIS scheme is only open to those self-employed with annual profits of less than £50,000 and who receive at least half their income from self-employment, and you must reasonably believe there will be a significant reduction in your trading profit, due to coronavirus, between 1 May 2021 and 30 September 2021.
Self-employed persons whose turnover has fallen by more than 30% will qualify for an 80% grant, capped at £7,500. Those with decreases in turnover of less than 30% are restricted to a 30% claim, capped at £2,850. When making a claim, the online service will ask for turnover figures and compare them. The claims service will then tell the applicant if they can claim the higher or lower grant amount.
The turnover figures will be used to compare turnover in the pandemic year from April 2020 – April 2021. This ‘pandemic’ year turnover should then be compared to a previous year’s turnover, known as the ‘reference’ year. For most self-employed the turnover reported in 2019-20 should be used as the reference year. However, this is not always the case and if 2019-20 was not a normal year for the business in question, the turnover reported in 2018-19 can be used.
COVID-19 support payments such as previous SEISS grants, and local authority or devolved administration grants should not be included in the turnover figure.
Please get in contact with your current contact or email hello@wenntownsend.co.uk to discuss your circumstances.