Eligibility for the Second Self-Employment Income Support Scheme Grant

Eligible self-employed individuals or partners whose trade continues to be, or is newly, adversely affected by Coronavirus may be able to claim a second and final SEISS grant some time from August. This will be a taxable grant worth 70% (previously 80%) of their average monthly trading profit for three months, paid out as a single lump sum up to a maximum of £6,570.

The eligibility conditions for the second grant are the same as those for the first grant with one exception. To be able to claim the first grant, the business has to have been “adversely affected” by Coronavirus on or before 13 July 2020. Whereas to claim the second grant the business has to have been “adversely affected” on or after 14 July 2020.

For details of the eligibility criteria see https://www.scott-wilkinson.com/blog/self-employment-income-support-scheme-seiss/

Your business could be adversely affected by coronavirus if, for example:

• you’re unable to work because you:
  • are shielding
  • are self-isolating
  • are on sick leave because of coronavirus
  • have caring responsibilities because of coronavirus
• you’ve had to scale down, temporarily stop trading or incurred additional costs because:
  • your supply chain has been interrupted
  • you have fewer or no customers or clients
  • your staff are unable to come in to work
  • one or more of your contracts have been cancelled
  • you had to buy protective equipment so you could trade following social distancing rules

HMRC adversely affected examples: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-different-circumstances-affect-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme#adversely-affected-examples

The grants are independent and so where an individual did not claim the first grant they may still be able to claim the second grant and vice versa.

The deadline for claiming the first grant has now been set on 13 July 2020. After this date, HM Revenue & Customs will not accept any claims for the first grant. So any eligible individual who has still not claimed should now do so without delay.

Agents are still unable to make claims on behalf of their clients. This means that individuals will again need to make any second claim themselves. However, where requested, we are very happy to provide further advice on eligibility and the claim process.