SEISS – Online service for fourth grant now open

The online service for the fourth grant of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) is now available.

This fourth grant will cover the period from 1 February to 30 April and claims must be made on or before 1 June 2021.

To be eligible for the grant you must;

• Have traded in both tax years 2020 to 2021 and 2019 to 2020 and submitted your 2019/20 tax return on or before 2 March 2021
• Be either currently trading and impacted by reduced demand due to coronavirus, or have been trading but are now temporarily unable to do so due to coronavirus
• Declare that you intend to continue to trade and reasonably believe there will be a significant reduction in your trading profits

The grant will be calculated at 80% of 3 months’ average trading profits and be paid out in a single instalment and capped at £7,500 in total.

However, individuals must tell HMRC within 90 days of receiving a grant if, when they made the claim, they were not eligible for the grant or entitled to the amount that they received.

In their Guidance, HMRC have given the following examples;

• for the first or second grant, the individual’s business was not adversely affected
• for the third or fourth grant, the individual’s business had not been impacted by reduced activity, capacity or demand or inability to trade in the relevant periods
• they did not intend to continue to trade
• they received more than HMRC said it were entitled to

HMRC must also be informed if an individual amended any of their tax returns on or after 3 March 2021 in a way which means that they are now entitled to a lower grant than they received.

HMRC only need to be informed about changes that would mean that eligibility for the grant is lowered by more than £100.

If an individual fails to inform HMRC of any of the above changes, they may be liable to pay a penalty. HMRC are set to release more information on these penalties in May 2021.

Aspire Comment:

This announcement will come as a relief to those self-employed individuals who have suffered over the extended periods of shutdown which the UK has seen.

Nevertheless, it is clear that HMRC will be seeking to recover any money which has been incorrectly claimed through the SEISS and so, it remains essential that individuals stay up to date with the ever-changing guidance and legislation and ensure that their claims are accurate.

Please get in touch with one of our advisors on 0121 445 6178 or email enquire@aspirepartnership.co.uk for a chat to see how we can support you and your business.