COVID-19: DETAILS FOR SEISS3 FOR THE SELF-EMPLOYED

Updated 30 November:  Emails are now being received by self-employed people inviting them to claim for the third payment of the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, SEISS3, starting next Monday 30 November.  The claim website is now open.

The eligibility criteria are of three types:

• Whether self-employed income in recent tax years fits the same criteria as the first SEISS payments:
• Even if you didn't claim either of them
• Though hasn't been extended to the many self-employed people not originally eligible
  
• More stringent conditions as to whether adversely affected by COVID-19 in that:
• "You must reasonably believe that you will suffer a significant reduction in trading profits due to reduced business activity, capacity or demand or inability to trade due to coronavirus during the period 1 November to 29 January 2021", the date, when claims close.  
• This time not if only due to an increase in costs.
  
• Potential consideration of the business year as a whole, which is new and somewhat unclear
  
• Nonetheless planning to continue to trade

Actual conditions on the claim site:

  

The guidance is available here, including several examples.

 

IN CONCLUSION

There are two significant changes in SEISS3 since SEISS1 and SEISS2:

• It will be more difficult to legitimately claim SEISS3 than either SEISS1 or SEISS2.  
• There may also be changes in circumstances after a claim is made for SEISS3 where HMRC would "amend" the claim, presumably to zero and triggering a repayment. 
  

If in doubt claimants should take professional advice.

REMAINING ISSUES

Whilst this grant will be very welcome to those people eligible, there are a number of remaining problems by comparison to the Furlough scheme that have not been addressed:

• Two missing months 
• Applicable rates
• Frequency of subsequent payments
• What about the self-employed excluded from the earlier SEISS grants?

Here's a discussion of these issues.