COVID-19: self-employed update

The self-employed income support scheme (SEISS) is due to go live on Wednesday 13 May.

Please note that, as agents, we will not be able to apply for the grants on behalf of self-employed individuals. Instead, a self-employed person will need to make their own application through the Government website.

It appears that HMRC will calculate any grant that is due automatically, with payments set to be made as a lump sum in early June.

We strongly advise that, if you are self-employed and do not currently have your own Government Gateway (or you have lost your login details), please follow this link and set one up as soon as you possibly can. For ease, you can also do this when using the eligibility checker mentioned below.

We are experiencing examples of individuals logging in to their account and getting a notification stating that they are ineligible, when it would appear that the opposite is actually the case. In this scenario, our advice would be to complete the official eligibility checker here. Note that there will be an option to ask HMRC to review their conclusion if you feel you should be eligible.

Another point to note is that it does appear that the application process will be staggered, with some individuals not able to apply, for example, until Friday 15 May. Our advice would be to follow the links above to double-check the scenario specific to yourself.

As always, please do contact us should there be anything that you are unsure about.