Coronavirus has brought much of the UK, and the world, to a standstill, causing a devastating impact not only in terms of health but financially too. With millions being affected by the measures taken to try to slow the spread of COVID-19, the UK Government introduced emergency forms of support.
READ MORE
-
Martin Lewis reveals best savings accounts with highest interest
This included the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – also known as the furlough scheme – which has seen some 8.4 million workers having been covered by the scheme.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak went on to announce the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).
HM Treasury said on May 29 that it had so far seen 2.3 million claims for the scheme, worth £6.8billion.
Weeks earlier, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) started to contact the approximate 3.5 million individuals who may be eligible for the scheme, in order to explain the process and help them to get ready to make a claim.
The claims service opened on Wednesday May 13, 2020.
Within the first few hours of the service being open, the Treasury said more than 110,000 claims were received.
Those eligible could get a taxable grant worth 80 percent of average monthly trading profits, up to a cap of £7,500 over the course of three months.
The grant itself is paid out in a single monthly instalment, covering three months’ worth of profits.
Successful applications should have received payments by May 25, or six working days after the claim.
The temporary scheme has since been extended by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak.
However, some changes to the scheme have been made.
Those who are eligible and who wish to claim the first grant must do so by a deadline which is just a matter of days away.
READ MORE
- Expert explains how Britons can make a claim from HMRC in tax relief
These people will need to make a claim on or before July 13, 2020 for the first grant.
Following the extension of the scheme, those eligible will be able to claim for the second and final grant in August 2020.
At this moment in time, the online service for the latter grant is not yet available.
There has been a change in the amount of support available meaning the second grant is worth 70 percent of the person’s average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering a further three months’ worth of profits, and capped at £6,570 in total.
Who can claim for the SEISS?
The government says that a person can claim if they’re a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership and all of the following circumstances apply:
- They traded in the tax year 2018 to 2019 and submitted their Self Assessment tax return on or before April 23, 2020 for that year
- They traded in the tax year 2019 to 2020
- They intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020 to 2021
- They carry on a trade which has been adversely affected by coronavirus.
Source: Read Full Article