Self-Employment Income Support Scheme – Fourth Grant

HMRC is to contact self employed claimants for grant four SEISS applications.

The fourth grant, which offers 80% of three months’ average trading profits, paid out in a single taxable instalment capped at £7,500, will be available covering the period from February to April 2021. Self-employed people who are eligible and in need of support must claim the fourth grant at any time on or before 1 June 2021.

To be eligible for the fourth grant, taxpayers must meet the eligibility criteria for the previous grants and also:

• Trading profits must not be more than £50,000 and at least equal to or more than your non-trading income.
• For those with a 30% reduction in turnover, the above caps apply. For those with less than a 30% turnover reduction, the cap is £2,850 for the three month period.

HMRC will check claims and take the appropriate action to withhold or recover payments within a penalty system if found to be dishonest or inaccurate. 

For self employed people currently trading but have reduced demand, keep any evidence that your business has had reduced activity, capacity or demand due to coronavirus at the time you made your claim, such as business accounts showing reduction in activity compared to previous years, records of reduced or cancelled contracts or appointments, and a record of dates where you had reduced demand or capacity due to government restrictions.