Time to apply for second Self Employed Income Support Scheme and a new grant for small businesses

SEISS

Self employed businesses people who did not apply the first time round can apply for this second three month grant. But only if they would have qualified the first time round.

So why wouldn’t you have applied/got the grant? your business had to be negatively affected by Coronavirus.

You may have thought it wasn’t worth it at the time but if you feel that since July 13th your income has been compromised, you may want to apply now, even if you didn’t apply before.

Also if you applied before and got the grant, and your business has not recovered, you can apply for the second payment which covers a three month profit equivalent. Covering the period (loosely) from June to August.

The MAIN DIFFERENCE IS THAT the second grant will be a taxable grant worth 70% of your average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single installment covering a further 3 months’ worth of profits, and capped at £6,570 in total. (as opposed to the 70% last time). We are expecting the payments to be made within a couple of weeks.

The first scheme applies to those who have lost earnings on or before July 13, while the second applies to those who have lost earnings after July 13.

Who’s entitled to the scheme?

You can claim if you’re a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership and all of the following apply:

– you traded in the tax year 2019 to 2020

– you intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020 to 2021

– you carry on a trade which has been adversely affected by coronavirus

You can apply for the second grant if your business activity was adversely affected after July 14.

Your business could be adversely affected by coronavirus if 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

Or you’ve had to scale down or temporarily stop trading because:

• your supply chain has been interrupted

• your staff are unable to come in to work

It will be possible to apply for the second SEISS grant from August 17 with a deadline of October 19.

How to apply

You can make your claim here

Have these things to hand before you apply:

• Self Assessment Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) – if you do not have this find out how to get your lost UTR

• National Insurance number – if you do not have this find out how to get your lost National Insurance number

• Government Gateway user ID and password – if you do not have a user ID, you can create one when you make your claim

• UK bank details (only provide bank account details where a Bacs payment can be accepted) including:

• bank account number, name and sort code and the address linked to your bank account

We cannot apply for you, you have to do it yourself. But if you need help please feel free to get in touch with David@theaccountancypractice.com or ring us on 01763 257882, even if you are not a client, we are happy to do what we can to help.