[27.05.21]
The fifth grant under the Self Employment Income Support Scheme will open towards the end of July 2021. This grant will cover the period May 2021 to September 2021.
To be eligible for this grant, you must have traded in the tax years:
- 2019 to 2020 and submitted your tax return on or before 2 March 2021; and
- 2020 to 2021
You must either be currently trading but are impacted by reduced demand due to COVID-19; or have been trading but are temporarily unable to do so due to COVID-19.
To work out your eligibility for the fifth grant, HMRC will look at your 2019 to 2020 Self Assessment tax return. Your trading profits must be no more than £50,000 and at least equal to your non-trading income. If you’re not eligible based on your 2019 to 2020 tax return, HMRC will then look at the tax years 2016 to 2017, 2017 to 2018, 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020.
As part of the application process, you must declare that:
- you intend to continue to trade
- you reasonably believe there will be a significant reduction in your trading profits due to reduced business activity, capacity, demand or inability to trade due to COVID-19 from May 2021 to September 2021
You must keep evidence that shows how your business has been impacted by COVID-19.
The fifth grant is based on how much your turnover has been affected by COVID-19:
- If your turnover will be reduced by 30% or more, you can claim 80% of three months’ average trading profit, up to £7,500
- If your turnover will be reduced by less than 30%, you can claim 30% of three months’ average trading profit, up to £2,850
If you’re eligible based on your tax returns, HMRC will contact you in mid-July 2021 to give you a date from when you can make your claim. In the meantime, HMRC will issue further guidance on the turnover thresholds towards the end of June.
During the fourth grant application window, individuals were receiving phishing scam emails purporting to be HMRC. We would encourage clients to be vigilant when following any links emailed to them.
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