Self-Employment Income Support Scheme is now open for second grants

The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) opened for claims from 17 August 2020, enabling eligible self-employed individuals to access a second, and final, taxable SEISS grant.

Tax payers will be contacted by HMRC by letter, SMS or email, inviting them to claim from a particular date should they meet the eligibility criteria. The eligibility criteria mirrors that of the first grant, and applicants must be able to demonstrate how their business has been adversely affected by coronavirus, at any time since 14 July 2020. They must also confirm that they intend to continue trading for tax year 2020-21.

Anyone who believes that they are eligible, but who hasn’t heard from HMRC, should follow the online claim process to establish whether or not they can actually claim.

Anybody who was prevented from submitting their tax return for 2018/19 due to responsibilities associated with being a new parent may now be eligible to claim. The same is true where their trading profits for 2018/19 were less than their other income due to reasons connected to being a new parent. Eligibility includes:

• Caring for a child within 12 months of birth or adoption placement
• Pregnancy or childbirth, within 26 weeks of the date of giving birth
• A stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy or more

For new parents, self-assessment returns from 2017-18 or both 2016-17 and 2017-18 can now be used to determine eligibility and to calculate the amount of the grant to be paid. Anyone in this position needs to confirm to HMRC that being a new parent affected their trading profits or total income in tax year 2018-19. The changes mean that new parents may now have the opportunity to claim for both the first or second SEISS grant, or both, when applications open for the second grant