Third Self-Employed grant now available!

The HMRC portal for the Self Employed who have been adversely affected by the pandemic to claim for the third SEISS grant has now opened. Care is needed however before you claim!

The rules for this third grant, and the future fourth grant, are different to those that applied for the first two.

Who can claim?

As before, claimants must have been trading in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 tax years, and have submitted their Tax Returns for those periods.

You must have been adversely affected by the pandemic on or after 1st November 2020 and until 29th January 2021.

How much can you claim?

• 80% of your average monthly trading profits, based on the 3 years’ profits up to the 2019 tax year
• The calculation is based on the same figures as earlier claims.
• It’ll be paid in one instalment in December 2020, with a maximum claim of £7,500

HMRC describe the additional requirements for the third grant as follows:

For this third SEISS grant customers must also now:

• either be currently trading but are impacted by reduced business activity, capacity or demand, or have been previously trading but are temporarily unable to do so due to coronavirus.
• declare that they intend to continue to trade, or restart trading, and that they reasonably believe that the impact on their business will cause a significant reduction in their trading profits.
• only claim if the reduction in profits is caused by reduced business activity, capacity or demand, or inability to trade due to coronavirus – reduction in profits due to increased costs (such as having to buy masks) does not make a business eligible for the third SEISS grant.

It’s important to be sure that you can honestly confirm all of the above before submitting your claim. I’ve highlighted the key areas to consider in bold above, as these are the areas that have changed since the second grant.

When considering whether your reduction in profits is ‘significant’, you’ll need to compare them to what you would have expected for this period.

HMRC expects ‘claimants to make an honest assessment about whether they reasonably believe their trading profits will be significantly reduced compared to what they would otherwise expect to achieve during this period.’

HMRC have provided some examples of reduced activity, capacity or demand that may be helpful, which you can see here.

All claims for this third grant must be submitted by 29th January 2021. As before, we cannot submit your claim on your behalf.

Once you’ve given making a claim careful thought, please ensure that you keep a note of your justification for claiming as you may well need to produce that later.

This page on gov.uk outlines the process for claiming, and, at the bottom of the page, includes the type of evidence HMRC may look for to justify a claim.

Please note: As before, the grant is taxable, so will need to be included in your accounts and tax return.

If you’re unsure of your eligibility, please do get in touch.