The Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) was launched to provide help for self-employed people whose businesses were adversely affected by Coronavirus. The second payment under the scheme, which was payable from mid-August, was due to be the final payment under the scheme.

However, as cases continue to rise and many businesses continue to be adversely affected by the virus, the scheme has been extended. The extension will run for six months from 1 November and will provide for two further grant payments, albeit at a much lower level than previously. Following the announcement of the national lockdown in England from 5 November 2020 to 2 December 2020, the level of the first grant was further increased.

Eligibility

To claim a grant under the extended SEISS, self-employed individuals (including individual members of partnerships) must:

• be currently eligible for the SEISS scheme (although it is not necessary to have claimed either the first or the second grant);
• declare that they are currently actively trading and intend to continue to trade; and
• declare that they are impacted by reduced demand due to Coronavirus in the qualifying period, which is between 1 November and the date of the claim).

To recap, to be currently eligible under the SEISS, the trade must:

• have submitted their self-assessment tax return for 2018/19 by 23 April 2020;
• traded in 2019/20;
• be continuing to trade when they claim the grant, or would be except for the Coronavirus pandemic; and
• intend to continue to trade in 2020/21.

The grant is limited to traders whose trading profits are not more than £50,000 either for 2018/19 or on average for the three years 2016/17 to 2018/19 inclusive. Profits from self-employment must also comprise at least 50% of the individual’s income.

Amount of the grant

Each grant will cover a three-month period. The first grant will cover the period from 1 November 2020 to 31 January 2021 and the second grant will cover the period from 1 February 2021 to 30 April 2021.

Self-employed traders will receive 80% of their average monthly profits for November and 40% of their average monthly profits for December and January. This means that the first grant will be worth 55% of three months’ average trading profits over 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19, capped at £5,150. The level of the second grant has yet to be set. Grant payments are taxable and liable for National Insurance.

HMRC will provide details as to how claims can be made soon.