Self Employed Grant Claim
HMRC – Self Employed Income Support Scheme Opening Soon
If you are Self Employed or a member of a partnership and have been adversely affected by corona virus (COVID-19) you are entitled to make an application for a taxable grant from HM Revenue and Customs to assist in your cash flow and loss of earnings. The claim portal will be opening in mid May 2020.
This grant is a one off payment to cover the equivalent of of 3 months’ worth of taxable profits you have lost because of corona virus and is payable at a rate of 80% with a maximum payment of £7500. This none repayable grant is likely to be significant, however HM Revenue and Customs are trying to make the application process as simple as possible and require very little information, however you will be required to have a .GOV.UK account to make the claim. Our agent portal does not allow us to make the claim on your behalf.
To be eligible for the money your Self Employed income must not be the greater than £50,000 and make up more than 50% of your overall income. This is determined by either the 2018-2019 tax return or averaged across the last three tax years. It is based on your taxable profits after expenses and capital allowances, but losses brought forward are ignored. There are a few other exceptions, however these are unlikely to affect the majority of our clients.
From the information know to date it is likely that most of our clients will be able to make the claims themselves without our assistance. All you will need is your UTR reference number and National Insurance Number. Both of these can be found on page 1 of your tax return which we issue every year.
As we complete in the region of 500 tax returns every year, we simple don’t have the capacity to provide this information or assist every client as soon as the scheme opens. We politely request that you try to find the information required yourself before contacting the office for assistance as this will incur the fees being charged to your account which are detailed below.
However, for clients who still want us to complete the claim on their behalf or want the reassurance of us checking the claim, we will be offering a check and submit service which is detailed below.
HM Revenue and Customs Guidance.
For those clients wanting to submit their own claim, then further information relating to the scheme and how it can be calculated can be found at the following HM Revenue and Customs links.
Guidance for the claim can be found at
How to calculate the amount of grant which is payable can be found
Set up a .GOV.UK account can be completed here.
https://www.access.service.gov.uk/registration/email
Check and Submit service.
This services is designed to assist the clients through the entire process from opening up an .gov.uk portal to checking the amount of the claim when paid by HM revenue and Customs. This service includes :
- Opening a personal .GOV.UK portal for the client (if required)
- Assistance in the activation of this portal.
- Checking the eligibility under the scheme from the data we hold on file.
- Calculation of the amount which should be payable from HM Revenue and Customs using the up to date guidance and legislation.
- Check how the business was adversely affected by corona virus.
- Check you haven’t exceeded or likely to exceed the state aid limits for the year.
- Submission of the claim using the clients own personal .GOV.UK which we set up above.
- Checking the claim paid by HM Revenue and Customs and explaining any differences.
- Telephone support guidance throughout the claim process.
- Dealing with any questions or queries HM Revenue and Customs raise during the process of the claim.
- Storing of your declaration and claim should HM Revenue and Customs question this later.
You will still be required to declare the amount received for Universal Credit or Tax Credit purposes and this is not included in the service.
Fees Payable
Telephone call & Email support.
If you chose to call or email for the information rather than using information you already have available to you i.e for National Insurance numbers and UTR reference numbers which are on copies of your tax returns or which are available in our online portal etc you will incur normal charges which are detailed in your letter of engagement. These charges will be recovered when we complete your Self-Assessment Tax Return.
A 10-minute phone call or a single email is likely to cost you between £8.50 – £12.50 + VAT. We are imposing these charges, so we do not to exceed our capacity, assist those who need it the most as priority and encourage our client to find their own information as it has already been issued on documents.
Check and Submit Service
If you wish to use any of the services listed in the Check and Submit service detailed above, we are charging a flat fee of £80 + VAT per claim. This fee includes all the telephone support and guidance and does not incur the telephone charges above.
To use this service, we will require you to complete a separate declaration form before the claim can start. This form can be completed within your online portal, can be emailed from a member of staff or a physical form signed at our offices. If you attend the office in person, please observe the social distancing restriction which are in place.
Just simply let us know you wish to use this service and we will get the declaration form issued to you.
After you have claimed
You will be told immediately if your claim has been successful. You should record the claim reference number and inform us of the grant you received as we require this for when we complete the 2020/2021 tax return.
If you have been claiming Tax Credits or Universal credit you will also need to inform them of the receipt of this grant as well.