The government has now announced new measures designed to provide support for the self-employed, including members of a partnership, who have been adversely affected by Covid-19.
Full details of the scheme can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme
The main points are:
Applications cannot be made yet. HMRC will contact you if you are eligible for the scheme and invite you to apply online
Access to the scheme is ONLY through GOV.UK.
Claims can be for a taxable grant worth 80% of trading profits up to a maximum of £2500 per month for the next 3 months. This term may be extended if necessary
Applicants will be self-employed individuals or members of a partnership
Applicants must have submitted their self-assessment tax return for 2018-2019; if not then it must be submitted by 23rd April 2020
Applicants must be trading when they apply or would be except for Covid-19 and intend to continue trading in tax year 2020-2021
Applicants must have lost profits due to Covid-19
Self-employed trading profits must be less than £50000 and more than 50% of income from self-employment
Grants will be calculated from the average profits for tax years 2016-2017, 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 (where applicable) and will be paid in one instalment directly into the Applicant’s bank account
If anyone contacts you claiming to be from HMRC saying that you can claim financial help or are owed a tax refund, and asks you to click on a link or to give information such as your name, credit card or bank details, it is a scam. HMRC are not expecting to make any payments to the self-employed until June so will not help immediate cash flow difficulties.
Further points to remember
Income Tax
For Income Tax Self-Assessment, payments due on the 31 July 2020 may be deferred until 31 January 2021.
Eligibility
You are eligible if you are due to pay your second self-assessment payment on account on 31 July. You do not need to be self-employed to be eligible for the deferment.
The deferment is optional. If you are still able to pay your second payment on account on 31 July, you should do so.
How to access the scheme
This is an automatic offer with no applications required. No penalties or interest for late payment will be charged if you defer payment until January 2021.
HMRC have also scaled up their Time to Pay offer to all firms and individuals who are in temporary financial distress as a result of COVID-19 and have outstanding tax liabilities.
If you are unsure about any of the relief available to your business and/or to your employees or simply require additional clarification then please don’t hesitate to contact us, either by phone on 01942 760500 or by e-mail on info@hulljady.co.uk
As and when any further updates become available we will ensure that you are made aware of them.