Did you see that there will be a second grant payment available under the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS)?
Along with the updated Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme rules, the details surrounding the second (and final) payment for the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme was also announced on 29 May 2020.
The first payment was based on 80% (capped at £7,500) of your self-employed average earnings over the last three years (where relevant) to compute a monthly amount. A lump sum was paid for three months to represent April, May and June, following the claim opening on 13 May.
The second payment will be reduced to 70% (capped at £6,750) using the same information as the first payment to compute a figure for three months to represent the months July, August and September. This will be paid in one lump sum following the claim portal opening sometime (still to be confirmed) in August. More guidance is expected on Friday 12 June from HMRC.
You do not have to have claimed for the first grant to qualify for the second grant. For any of the claims, you will need to confirm you meet the eligibility criteria. One of the main criteria is claiming you have been ‘adversely’ affected by coronavirus. HMRC have noted that this includes being unable to work due to having to shield, self-isolate or having care responsibilities due to coronavirus. It also includes scaling down or temporarily stopping trading because the supply chain has been interrupted, the business has fewer or no customers or staff are unable to work.
If you have not claimed for first grant yet and intend to do so the claim please be aware that the claim portal closes on 13 July 2020.
You can check if you are eligible to claim and find out how to claim here – https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme