Coronavirus – Self-Employment Income Support Scheme – almost here
From Monday 4th May HMRC will be commencing contact of self-employed people who are eligible to make a claim under the SEISS scheme.
The claims system will be open for applications from 13th May for those eligible and HMRC are promising a payment by 25th May or within 6 working days for qualifying applicants.
Details of the scheme can be found HERE
In advance of the claim system being live HMRC have put up a simple eligibility checker than anyone can use HERE To use the checker you’ll simply need your UTR (can be found on your tax return) and your National Insurance number. We would advise clients to use this sooner than later to confirm their eligibility. Interestingly, having run several clients details through the checker the result whilst correct in our test, has given different dates and times from which the client can make the claim, for instance some have said midday on the 13th, others 8am on the 14th, we assume this is HMRC trying to limit load on the system by spreading out applications slightly.
By using the checker and assuming you are eligible following the instructions after this is confirmed, you will also be to log-in to your Goverment Gateway ID (needed for claim) or you can create one if you don’t have one in order to make sure HMRC have your latest contact details.
One disappointment of the SEISS is that when the claim portal does open, HMRC have unfortunately decided that your accountant as ‘agent’ is not allowed to make the claim for you. This is because as part of the application you will have to declare that you have read and accepted the terms of the eligibility criteria and that the business has been adversely affected by Coronoavirus.
In order to make a claim you will need:
Your UTR Tax Reference
Your National Insurance Number
Your bank details to which the funds are to be paid
A Government Gateway ID – if you do not have your own ‘personal tax account’ then you will be able to create a new Gateway ID as part of the application process / eligibility checker