TaxCalc Blog

Self-Employed Income Support Scheme: “one of the most significant economic interventions”

Last night the Government announced a scheme that assists the self-employed across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Self-Employed Income Support Scheme will provide self-employed individuals a taxable grant worth 80% of trading profits, up to £2,500 a month for the next three months. It will also apply to members of partnerships.

The calculations will be based on individuals’ Self Assessment tax returns for the last three tax years, where possible, to obtain a fair and reasonable average.

Self-employed individuals or members of a partnership can apply if they:

The scheme will be open to all individuals with trading profits up to £50,000 in the tax year 2018/19 or have an average trading profit of less than £50,000 from earlier tax years, 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19, and where those individuals derive more than half of their income in these periods from self-employment.

All individuals eligible for the new Self-Employed Income Support Scheme will be notified by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak confirmed that eligible applicants will receive access to funds no later than the beginning of June, with self-employed and freelance taxpayers encouraged to apply for Universal Credit in the meantime.

More information

You can read more about claiming a grant through the coronavirus Self-employment Income Support Scheme here.