Since the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) was announced a few weeks back, lots of us have been wondering whether we’ll be eligible and what this support might mean for our businesses. Today, the government has released updated guidance and a new eligibility checker tool. This means it’s now easy to check your eligibility and take steps towards receiving the grant.
What is the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme?
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme is a package of support for self-employed people, announced by the Chancellor on 26th March 2020. This outlined a support scheme where the self-employed can access a cash grant of up to 80% of their profits, capped at a maximum of £2,500 per month.
How can I check my eligibility?
Like most initiatives, there are some eligibility criteria you’ll have to meet to access the grant.
You’ll need to meet the following criteria to be able to apply:
“You can claim if you’re a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership and:
- you carry on a trade which has been adversely affected by coronavirus
- you traded in the tax year 2018 to 2019 and submitted your Self Assessment tax return on or before 23 April 2020 for that year
- you traded in the tax year 2019 to 2020
- you intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020 to 2021
Your business could be adversely affected by coronavirus, for example 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
- you’ve had to scale down or temporarily stop trading because:
- your supply chain has been interrupted
- you have fewer or no customers or clients
- your staff are unable to come in to work”
Source: gov.uk
How to use the new eligibility checker tool
There’s been some confusion over this in the past few weeks, and people have called for an easy way to find out whether they’ll be eligible or not. The government has provided this with the new eligibility checker tool.
To do this, head to the eligibility checker tool page. You’ll be asked to enter your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) and your National Insurance (NI) number. On the following screen you’ll find out whether you’re eligible or not. If you are, you can supply your contact details for a reminder with the next steps for when 13th May 2020 rolls around.
What this means for self-employed business owners
Hopefully this new tool should bring some reassurance if you were worried about your eligibility. It also gives a useful upcoming date, 13th May, as a reference point for when you can progress your grant application further.
Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash
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