Further details about the fourth Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant, which covers the periods of 1 February 2021 to 30 April 2021, were released recently.
The online service to claim the fourth SEISS grant will become available from late April 2021. If you are eligible to claim based on your tax returns, you will be notified by HMRC in mid-April and will be given a date that you can claim from. You will be contacted via email, letter or through the online service.
When making a claim, you will need to confirm that you meet all the eligibility criteria. The claim must also be made on or before 1 June 2021.
Who can claim?
To be eligible for the fourth grant you must be a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership. You cannot claim the grant if you trade through a limited company or a trust.
You must have traded in both tax years:
- 2019 to 2020 and submitted your tax return on or before 2 March 2021
- 2020 to 2021
You must either:
- be currently trading but are impacted by reduced demand due to coronavirus
- have been trading but are temporarily unable to do so due to coronavirus
You must also declare that you:
- intend to continue to trade
- reasonably believe there will be a significant reduction in your trading profits
How much will I receive?
The fourth grant is calculated at 80% of 3 months’ average trading profits. It will be paid out in a single instalment and capped at £7,500 in total. How much you receive will depend on your average trading profits.
HMRC will work out your average trading profits using up to 4 years’ of submitted tax returns up to and including 2019.2020. This may affect the amount you’ll get which could be higher or lower than your previous grants.
How the grant is treated
The grant is subject to Income Tax and self-employed National Insurance Contributions. It must be reported on your 2021 to 2022 Self Assessment tax return.
The grant also counts towards your annual allowance for pension contributions.
For more information about the SEISS grant, you can view the government guidance
here.