Applications for the fourth Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant are now open. The scheme has been a lifeline for millions of self-employed workers in the UK throughout the pandemic.
The fourth grant covers the period from February to April 2021. It will pay 80% of three months’ average trading profits, capped at £7,500. Here is a brief summary of how you can claim the grant.
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Am I eligible for the fourth SEISS grant?
According to the gov.uk website, to claim the fourth SEISS grant, you must be a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership. You cannot claim it if you trade through a limited company or a trust.
Also, you must have traded in both the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 tax years (and have submitted your tax returns for the former by 3 March 2021). The other requirement is that you must either:
- Be currently trading but are impacted by reduced demand due to Covid-19; or
- Have been trading but are temporarily unable to do so due to Covid-19.
Finally, you have to declare that you plan to continue trading and that you reasonably believe that that there will be a significant reduction in your trading profits.
With the fourth grant, the scope of the SEISS scheme has been widened to include 2019/20 tax returns. So even if you were not eligible for the three earlier grants because you became self-employed within the 2019/2020 tax year, you may now qualify.
How do I claim?
If you are eligible for the fourth SEISS grant, HMRC will have contacted you via text, email or post with a personal claim date to apply for the grant.
You can make your claim through the official claims portal. You’ll have until 1 June 2021 to make your claim.
When claiming, you’ll need to have the following personal details to hand:
- Self-Assessment Unique Taxpayer Reference number (UTR)
- National Insurance number
- Government Gateway login details (user ID and password)
- UK bank details (account number, sort code, name on account and address linked to account)
Provided the claim is successful, you can expect to receive the money in your nominated bank account in no more than six working days. You can also expect to receive an email once your payment has been processed.
Note that as a SEISS claimant, you must make the claim for yourself. Guidance on the gov.uk website states: “You must not ask a tax agent or adviser to claim on your behalf as this will trigger a fraud alert, which will delay your payment.”
If you have not received your personal application date directly from HMRC or when you log in to the official claims portal to check, you can contact HMRC on 0800 024 1222 to follow up.
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Is this the final SEISS grant?
No.
A fifth SEISS grant will be available for the period from May to September 2021. The fifth grant, which is believed to be the last one, can be claimed from July. However, no specific date has been given yet.
Unlike previous grants, the value of the fifth grant will be determined by a turnover test. This will compare your turnover in the tax year from April 2020 to April 2021 with the pre-pandemic period.
- If you’ve experienced a reduction in turnover of at least 30%, you will be able to claim 80% of three months’ average trading profits, capped at £7,500.
- For those with a turnover reduction of less than 30%, the grant will be worth 30% of three months’ average trading profits, capped at £2,850.
What other help is available?
If you have been affected by Covid-19 and need extra support, financial or otherwise, you can use this special online tool to find out exactly what you can get from the government and other organisations.
There’s also a wealth of useful information in our coronavirus resources section.
