Self-employed income support scheme - HMRC rules

bennytk

According to guides on this website and GOV.UK, to be eligible for SEISS grant your trading profits must be below £50,000 for either 2018-19 or an average of 2016-2017, 2017-2018 and 2018-19. HMRC's webinar says trading profits must be below £50,000 in 2018-19 and on average over the three years. They use an example where profits were over £50,000 in 2018-19, but less on average and they say that in that case you are not eligible. Can anyone please clarify?

Jeremy535897

Guidance says:

"Your trading profits must also be no more than £50,000 and more than half of your total income for either:

• the tax year 2018 to 2019
• the average of the tax years 2016 to 2017, 2017 to 2018, and 2018 to 2019"

It is unequivocal. Full guidance at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme#lessyears
There are some examples, and the guidance above is repeated at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-hmrc-works-out-total-income-and-trading-profits-for-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme

bennytk

That's great, thank you. It's good to know I was on the right track.

This was the information I was looking at that showed me I was eligible, having trading profit of over £50,000 in 2018-19, but not on average over the three years.

However the guidance states that HMRC will contact you if you are eligibile and invite you to make a claim. But it is HMRC who, according to their webinar, are using different rules and according to those rules anyone whose trading profit was over £50,000 in 2018-19 will not be eligible for the grant, even if their trading profit for the three years is less than £50,000.

Jeremy535897

HMRC will invite people to apply, but no doubt we will learn more around mid May, and I expect there will be a process whereby people who think they qualify, but haven't been invited to apply, can apply anyway.