The online service to claim the fourth Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) Grant will be available from late April and HMRC will contact you in mid-April if you are eligible, together with a date from which you can make your claim.
The qualifying criteria have been revised for the fourth SEISS Grant and are as follows:
- You must have traded in both tax years 2019/20 and 2020/21 and submitted your 2019/20 tax return by 2nd March 2021;
- You must either be currently trading but are impacted by reduced demand due to COVID or have been trading but are temporarily unable to do so due to COVID;
- You must also declare that you intend to continue to trade and that you reasonably believe that there will be a significant reduction in your trading profits due to COVID.
A business is impacted by reduced demand if it has fewer customers than expected, if it has had one or more contracts cancelled and not replaced or carried out less work due to supply chain restrictions, all due to social distancing or Government restrictions.
A business that was previously trading but is temporarily unable to do so includes businesses that had to close due to Government restrictions, have been instructed to shield or self-isolate in line with NHS guidelines and are unable to work from home, those that have tested positive for COVID and cannot work, or those who cannot work due to caring responsibilities.
You must reasonably believe that there will be a significant reduction in trading profits for the period from 1st February 2021 to 30th April 2021 due to reduced business activity, demand or an inability to trade due to COVID.
The fourth SEISS grant covers the period from 1st February 2021 to 30th April 2021 and is 80% of three months average profits capped at £7,500. The three-month average profits for the previous SEISS Grants was based on the three tax years 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19. The fourth SEISS Grant also includes the year 2019/20. So, if your profits were down in 2019/20, then your average profits and Grant will be reduced from the first three Grants.
If you require guidance on any of the above, please contact your TC partner on 0330 088 7111.