The second round of coronavirus support grants for the self-employed opens for claims today. This was announced in May and has the same eligibility criteria to the first claim, being based on individuals with self-employed income declared on 2018/19 tax returns calculated using a three year average.
There are two distinct differences to the first grant. Firstly, it is limited to £6,570 compared to £7,500. Secondly, there is an important declaration required to confirm that your business was adversely affected on or after 14 July 2020.
With businesses gradually reopening in recent months and many trading almost as usual, we would encourage our clients to read the guidance HMRC have issued here.
To summarise, you can usually consider yourself to have been affected after this date if:
- Government guidance has forced your business to close
- You are unable to organise your work or workplace to allow staff to work safely
- You are not able to serve customers because of social distancing requirements
- The restrictions have affected your staff or customers
- Your supply chain has been interrupted due to shortages of products
- One or more of your contracts have been cancelled
- You have fewer or no customers
- You have had personal restrictions such as being ill, self-isolating or shielding, or you have had to care for others.
HMRC have indicated they will take a soft-touch approach to reviewing the entitlement, but we would advise keeping evidence of how your business has been impacted after 14 July.
Claims for the second grant can be made here.
