Chris Adkin, of Mansfield chartered accountants Adkin Sinclair, has given his update on the Coronavirus Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) extension issued by the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak:

The Chancellor announced that for those people whose trade continues to be, or is newly, adversely affected by Covid-19; eligible self-employed people will be able to claim a second and final SEISS grant in August. This will be a taxable grant worth 70% of their average monthly trading profits for three months, paid out in a single payment and capped at £6,570.

The eligibility criteria for the second grant will be the same as for the first grant. You do not need to have claimed the first grant to claim the second grant: for example, if your business has been adversely affected by COVID-19 (coronavirus) more recently than the timing of the first grant.

Most importantly right now is the reminder that claims for the first SEISS grant must be made no later than 13 July 2020. Eligible self-employed people must make a claim before that date to receive the first SEISS grant so if you are eligible and have not yet submitted your claim I urge you to deal with this without delay. If you wish to speak to me about your claim, please call me.

I would remind you that as with the first grant, the actual claim must be made by you personally and cannot be made by me acting as your agent. I can however guide you through the process if you are unsure about it.

The government have also told us that further information about the second SEISS grant will be available on the Gov.uk website on 12th June 2020.

Commentary

The SEISS is certainly a most welcome measure of support to some of those who are self-employed. However, the way in which it is calculated and the eligibility criteria are by no means fair or equitable. There are some self-employed people who are gaining more than they would expect and there are others who are losing out massively due to factors beyond their control; such as the timing of when they started self-employment or when they invested in capital equipment that has had an adverse impact on the amount of SEISS grant available to them.

My advice around this support is to encourage you to make sure that you claim this grant if you are eligible.