is the Small business rate relief grant counted as taxable for universal credit claims

markie1980

Has anyone found a definitive answer to this yet?
I have applied for Universal Credits as advised by the government and am filling in my income and expenditure today for the first time.
Last week I received the Small Business Grant so I need to know if this is supposed to be included as income.

Thanks.

Jeremy535897

There is no definitive answer as far as I am aware. The grant is treated as income for tax purposes, but that does not necessarily flow through to UC. If you bank the grant in a personal bank account and don't spend it, it will count as capital for the UC means test going forward.

calcotti

markie1980 said:

Has anyone found a definitive answer to this yet?
I have applied for Universal Credits as advised by the government and am filling in my income and expenditure today for the first time.
Last week I received the Small Business Grant so I need to know if this is supposed to be included as income.

Thanks.

I would not include it as income for UC. However I would add a separate note in the journal saying that you have received the grant and have not included it as income because although have not found any guidance on this you think it should be treated as a business asset and disregarded. 

That way you have been open and honest and it is for DWP to decide.

Hesel18

Thanks to everyone for the advice.
I have just received a call from Universal credit and they have told me that they received clarity from government yesterday on this subject, they told me to put in my journal that I had received it but it will not be counted as income or savings against UC because it is solely to keep the business going, we just have to put it on the journal so they are aware of it.

Jeremy535897

Thank you very much for updating us.

beagoodancestor

I have just found this Govt legalisation on the parliament website. Hope it is helpful. It discusses other categories of coronavirus support first (so the below advice is not for *all* support types)  but then, section 3.4 it says :

3.4  Finally, where self-employed claimants receive Coronavirus support via a loan or grant, to aide with business recovery, these payments will be disregarded for a period of 12 months, for the purposes of UC. If they were not, these payments would be taken into account within UC potentially causing the self-employed claimants UC payment to stop."

So if the payment was a grant or a loan, then UK legislation exists saying that as far as UC is concerned, these payments will be disregarded for a period of 12 months.

Unfortunately I am too new for the MSE system to allow me to post links, but it is here.

www.   legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/522/pdfs/  uksiem_20200522_en.  pdf

Jeremy535897

The reference to being disregarded for 12 months means that, for example, the small business grant of £10,000 need not be spent immediately to avoid being counted as capital (and potentially breaching the means tested savings limit). See
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/522/pdfs/uksiem_20200522_en.pdf The legislation itself is at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/522/made