SEISS CLOCK TICKING: Third SEISS grant to close in a week as workers eye up confirmed fourth grant
The clock is ticking for struggling self-employed workers as applications for the third government support grant are set to close in a week.
With 83% of taxi and private hire drivers in England registered as self-employed, the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant has been a vital source of income since lockdown measures decreased travel demands and work levels for drivers.
The third SEISS has been available to all self-employed workers since it went live on 30 November. Those that have yet to make a claim have until next week, Friday 29 January, to make the claim.
Support for self-employed workers applying for the third SEISS grant will cover November to January and will be calculated at 80% of average trading profits, up to a maximum of £7,500.
Self-employed workers struggling throughout the pandemic will also receive a confirmed fourth SEISS grant covering February 2021 to April 2021. According to HM Treasury sources: “There will be a fourth grant covering February 2021 to April 2021. We will set out further details, including the level of the fourth grant in due course.”
Earlier this month Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds called on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to make an urgent statement to Parliament on the economic support for the new England-wide lockdown, including the confirmation that the next Self Employed Income Support Scheme will be set at 80%.
Those eligible for the third SEISS grant do not need to repay the funding, but the grant will be subject to Income Tax and self-employed National Insurance. The SEISS payments must be reported on the claimant’s 2020-21 Self Assessment tax return.
To make a claim for the third grant the claimant’s business must have been impacted by coronavirus on or after 1 November 2020.
According to details released by HM Treasury, all claimants must keep a copy of all records in line with normal self-employment record keeping requirements. This includes the amount claimed and the grant claim reference.
HM Treasury are also asking those eligible for the grant to keep any evidence that their business has had REDUCED DEMAND due to coronavirus at the time they made the claim.
If the claimant’s business is temporarily UNABLE to trade they also must keep evidence.
