From 17 August, eligible self-employed individuals will be able to claim for their second grant under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), a measure introduced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to help tackle the financial impact of coronavirus. The eligibility criteria for the second grant is exactly the same as the first grant, so long as your business has been adversely affected since 14 July, after applications for the first instalment of the grant closed.
Eligible applicants can claim any time between their allocated date, which will have been sent to them by HMRC this week, and 19 October 2020. If you are successful in your claim, you will receive your payment within 6 working days of completing your claim.
Please note, the amount available to claim through the second SEISS grant has been reduced to 70% of the individuals’ average monthly trading profits, which will be paid in a single instalment to cover 3 months’ worth of profit, up to a capped total of £6,570.
However, as announced by HMRC this week, there are a number of businesses that will receive a smaller payment on their second grant, as they revealed that they had overpaid around 16,000 applicants during the first grant due to a miscalculation. According to FT Adviser, “All claimants affected have been told they will now be receiving a lower sum, should they make a second grant application later this month.”
If you were overpaid in the first grant, you will not need to take any action, as HMRC has stated that those affected will not be expected to pay anything back. This was confirmed by a spokesperson at HMRC: “On this occasion we will not reclaim these payments to avoid unnecessary hardship for taxpayers who may have already used the money”.
As HMRC has stated, accountants cannot make this claim on behalf of their clients, so those eligible will need to make the application themselves. You can find out more about the scheme and make your claim once applications are open here.
We will keep you informed of all updates during this time so you can be aware of all the support being made available to you and your business. If you have any questions or enquiries, please get in touch with the team here, or call our Southend office on 01702 466 886.
