Self Employed Income Support Scheme Grant SEISS No.5 – 09/07/21

We hope everyone is well. The past few weeks has seen a resumption of ‘normal’ British summertime weather! Hopefully, the sunny days will be back with us soon though. We also hope that It’s Coming Home!

Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) – 5^th Grant Round
Back in March, the Chancellor announced further SEISS grants and that included a 5^th and (at this point) final round. This grant covers the period from May to September 2021 with applications opening at some point in July (actual date not yet known) and will close on 30 September 2021.  his round of the SEISS grant sees a further strengthening of the rules and the key points are:

• Although it covers a 5 month period, the actual grant paid relates to 3 months average earnings (if conditions are met)
• To qualify you must have been actively trading in 2019/20, 2020/21 and have the intention to continue to trade in 2021/22
• Your 2019/20 Trading income must be less than £50,000 and at least equal to your non trading income
• Declarations required when making a claim:
  • That your intention is to continue to trade in the 2021/22 tax year
  • That you ‘reasonably believe’ that there will a significant reduction in trading profits due to impact of COVID between 1^st May 2021 and 30 September 2021. You should also keep records as to how you arrived at your judgement
• Amounts payable are slightly different for this round of SEISS grant. Previously it was an all or nothing, however, for this round, the calculation of grant is based on change in turnover. You are required to calculate your turnover for the 2020/21 tax year and compare this to your 2019/20 tax year (for 2019/20 turnover per tax return, for 2020/21 turnover for the period from 1^st April 2020 to 31^st March 2021). Remember that HMRC will be able to review these figures based on your tax returns for 2019/20 (they already have) and 2020/21 (may not yet be complete). Depending on the change the following sums are payable:
  • If your turnover has reduced by 30% or more then you will be entitled to 80% of 3 months average profits, up to £7,500
  • If your turnover has reduced by less than 30% then you will be entitled 30% of 3 months average profits, up to £2,850
  • There is an exception where 2019/20 is not a normal year that the comparison can be made to 2018/19 instead

As per previous advice, we suggest that attention should be given to the declaration made and a claim only made where you qualify. As mentioned above making supporting notes and calculations for the claim now, may prove vital in backing up the judgements made. Furthermore, our recommendation is that we complete your 2020/21 accounts before the application is made so that we can notify you of your turnover figures. However, this may result in a delay to you making your claim, depending on when we receive your accounts for processing and what other work we have on at the time. We will, of course, prioritise where we can.

Smarter Accounting COVID Policy
Even though Boris has announced that all restrictions will be lifted from 19 July, we have taken the decision to remain closed for face-to-face meetings at this point, for the continued safety of our staff and clients. We hope to be able to change this soon, but not until all staff are double jabbed. In the meantime, we can always make other arrangements for video conferencing, telephone calls or outside meetings if required. If you are dropping off or collecting records via the office, please notify us in advance and wear a facemask.

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Best wishes and stay safe