3rd SEISS grant available from Government

The third Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant will be available from Monday 30th November and will cover the 3 month period from 1 November 2020 until 31 January 2021. The Government will provide a taxable grant calculated at 80% of 3 months average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single installment and capped at £7,500 in total.

Please note, whilst the eligibility for the 3rd grant is similar to the previous two, there are some key differences.

To be eligible to claim;

You must have traded in both tax years:

• 2018 to 2019 and submitted your Self Assessment tax return on or before 23 April 2020 for that year
• 2019 to 2020

You must earn at least 50% of your total income from self-employment

Your average trading profit must be less than £50,000 per year

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
• you reasonably believe there will be a significant reduction in your trading profits

You’ll need to prove a “significant reduction” in trading profits – This can be for one of two reasons – either because of;

• reduced demand, activity or capacity OR
• you’re temporarily unable to trade.

You must keep evidence that shows how your business has been impacted by coronavirus resulting in less business activity than otherwise expected. Before you make a claim, you must decide if the impact on your business will cause a significant reduction in your trading profits for the tax year you report them in. HMRC cannot make this decision for you because your individual and wider business circumstances will need to be considered when deciding whether the reduction is significant. You should wait until you have a reasonable belief that your trading profits are going to be significantly reduced, before you make your claim.

The claim will be made in the same way as the previous two grants, by logging in to your government gateway and following the links. You will be given a designated time slot for the earliest you can make the claim, which may be later in the week. You have until 29th January to make a claim.

A link will become available on the below website once the grant is open for applications;

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme