Government Support During Covid for Sole Traders and the Self Employed

If you are self employed or a member of a partnership and your business has been affected by COVID-19 then you may have been eligible to apply for a grant through the “Self Employment Income Support Scheme” (SEISS) however this was dependent on a strict set of criteria;

• You must not be trading through a limited company or a trust

• You must have traded in the 18/19 tax year and have submitted your tax return on or before 23 April 2020 for that year

• You must have traded in the 19/20 tax year

• You intend to trade in the 20/21 tax year

• Your trading profits for the 18/19 tax year must be no more than £50,000 and at least equal to your non-trading income

• If you are not eligible for the grant based on your 18/19 SATR then the government will take into consideration returns from previous years.

The grants were originally brought in up until the 13th July 2020, but they were then extended to 2021. 

Then following the announcement of a second lockdown, SEISS was once again extended, in the form of two additional grants, each available for three month periods covering November 2020 to January 2021 and February 2021 to April 2021. 

To be eligible for the 3rd grant, you must have been eligible for the first and second grants based on the information in your Self Assessment Tax Returns - you must also have had new or continuing disruption to your business, due to coronavirus, between the 1st November 2020 and the 29th January 2021, that you believe will significantly impact your profits. 

The grant does not need to be repaid, but it is subject to PAYE & NI contributions.