Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) Grant Extension
03 November 2020
As announced yesterday (2 November 2020) by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, the extended support given under the SEISS will increase to 80% to mirror the support given under CJRS for the period of November.
The SEISS Grant Extension will provide increased support to the self-employed in the form of two grant payments, each covering a three-month period - November to January and February to April. As with previous grant payments, grants will be paid in two lump sum instalments to cover these periods.
The first grant will cover a three-month period from the start of November until the end of January and will be calculated using 55% of average trading monthly profits, capped at £5,160. Previously, the government advised that 40% could be claimed, however, with the additional 40% being applied to November this increases the total level of the grant from 40% to 55% of trading profits for November to January.
The second grant will cover a three-month period from the start of February until the end of April and the Government will review the level of support available for the second grant and set this in due course.
Just as with the previous grants were, the grants provided under this extended scheme are taxable income and subject to National Insurance contributions therefore should be reported in line with self-assessment requirements.
To be eligible for the scheme, self-employed individuals, including members of partnerships, must:
- Have been previously eligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme first and second grant (although they do not have to have claimed the previous grants)
- Intend to continue to trade and either:
- Are currently actively trading but are impacted by reduced demand due to coronavirus
- Were previously trading but are temporarily unable to do so due to coronavirus
In addition, the service will open from 30 November and not 14 December as was previously planned.
Full guidance is to be published on GOV.UK within the next few days and HMRC are requesting that people do not call for more information prior to reading published guidance.
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