Self-Employment Support

Stuart

Support for Self-Employed People:

We know many self-employed people are deeply anxious about the support available for them. Alongside other measures, the Chancellor has announced a new Self-Employment Income Support Scheme – helping many of our country’s self-employed workers adversely affected by Covid-19: the musicians, the sound engineers, the plumbers, the electricians, the taxi drivers, the hairdressers, the childminders, and many others.

Self-Employment Income Support Scheme:

  • An extension of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme was recently announced to support self-employed individuals who are experiencing reduced demand or cannot trade due to the effect of Coronavirus. Previously, the support was doubled from 40% to 80% of trading profits for November, which increased the overall level of the grant to 55% of trading profits. The Government is now announcing that the overall level of the grant is being increased to 80% of trading profits covering November to January for all parts of the UK.
  • This provides equivalent support to the self-employed as is being providing to employees through the government contribution in the CJRS. It is calculated based on 80% of 3 months’ average trading profits, paid out in a single instalment and capped at £7,500.
  • The third SEISS grant is open for claims until midnight on Friday, the 29th of January. Eligible customers must claim on or before this date. The easiest way for your constituents to claim is via the GOV.UK website.
  • Eligibility for the third SEISS grant is limited to people whose business has faced reduced demand, or has been temporarily unable to trade due to COVID-19 since the 1st of November 2020, for example due to Government restrictions. In addition, customers must confirm that they reasonably believe that any reduced demand or inability to trade from 1st of November 2020 to the 29th of January 2021 will result in a significant reduction in their trading profits, compared to what they would otherwise expect to have achieved. (No comparison needs to be made to previous periods or years).

Time to Pay (HMRC)

  • All businesses and self-employed people in financial distress, and with outstanding tax liabilities, may be eligible to receive support with their tax affairs through HMRC’s Time To Pay service.
  • This support is available now, and arrangements are agreed on a case-by-case basis and are tailored to individual circumstances and liabilities.
  • HMRC has set up a helpline to support businesses and self-employed people concerned about not being able to pay their tax due to Coronavirus.
  • Anyone who is running a business or is self-employed and is concerned about paying their tax due to COVID-19 (Coronavirus), can call HMRC’s helpline for help and advice: 0800 024 1222. More guidance is available on GOV.UK
  •  As of 15 June, there were over 70,000 new deferrals in place related to Covid-19, accounting for £11.63 billion of tax liabilities.

Self-Assessment 2018-19 Tax returns

  • We are encouraging Self Assessment customers to complete their tax return ahead of the deadline on the 31st of January 2021, to make sure they have time to pay their tax bill or set up a payment plan. Self Assessment customers can complete their Self Assessment via the Personal Tax Account, which provides an immediate calculation of any tax owed.
  • Once Self Assessment customers have completed their 2019-20 tax return, and know how much tax is owed, they can set up their own payment plan to help spread the cost of their tax liabilities, up to the value of £30,000. They can use the self-serve Time to Pay facility to set up monthly direct debits and this can all be done online so there is no need to phone HMRC. Customers can visit GOV.UK to find out more about the service and if they are eligible.

Further Self-Employment Support

  • For self-employed people, the Government has also:
    • deferred income tax self-assessment payments for July until the end of January 2021
    • suspended the minimum income floor for twelve months, meaning self-employed people can now access Universal Credit at a rate that is equivalent to Statutory Sick Pay for employees.
    • Those on contributory ESA will be able to claim from day 1, instead of day 8. The Government has relaxed the requirement to physically attend a jobcentre, everything can be done by phone or online.
    • Many self-employed people will also be able to access loans through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans Scheme.
    • See 'support for individuals' page for further avenues of financial support such as help with mortgages and energy bills.

To quickly and easily find out about what financial support you may be available for, use the Government's Coronavirus Business Support Finder, https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder

Page Last Updated: 09/01/21.