Changes to the third and fourth SEISS grants

[Amended 25/11/20] The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme will now be extended from November 2020 to April 2021.

If you’re eligible for the third grant, you’ll receive a grant worth 80% of your Average Trading Profit paid out in a single instalment covering 3 months’ worth of profits, and capped at £7,500 in total. The level of the fourth grant is to be kept under review and announced in due course.

Claiming the third grant:
The online service for the third grant will be available from 30 November 2020. You must make your claim on or before 29 January 2021. 

Eligibility criteria:
From the 30 November 2020, you will be able to use the portal to check your eligibility. To work out your eligibility, HMRC will look at your 2018 to 2019 Self Assessment tax return. Your trading profits must be no more than £50,000 and at least equal to your non-trading income.

If you’re not eligible based on the 2018 to 2019 Self Assessment tax return, they will then look at the tax years 2016 to 2017, 2017 to 2018, and 2018 to 2019.

In order to then claim the third grant, the taxpayer:

• must either be currently trading and impacted by reduced demand, or have been trading but be temporarily unable to do so due to coronavirus; and
• intends to continue to trade, and reasonably believes that the impact on their business will cause a significant reduction in their 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.

HMRC has specifically said that a reduction in profits due to increased costs (such as having to buy masks) does not count for this purpose.

No claim can be made where the reduced activity, capacity or demand is caused solely because the person is required to self-isolate, or care for a person required to self-isolate, as a result of travelling to the UK. 

The scheme has not been extended to businesses that were not eligible for the first and second grants and information from 2019/20 returns will not be taken into account.

Claims for the second SEISS grant have now closed and HMRC has temporarily withdrawn guidance on the scheme while it develops guidance on the third and fourth grants.