Self-employed grant - "adversely affected by coronavirus"

Baxter100

All being well I should be able to make my claim for the self-employed grant on Wednesday. Given that the grant should only be claimed by those who have been adversely affected by Coronavirus, I wonder:

1. If the government will look to enforce this clause either now or in the future?

2. If so, how?

How do people think the government might go with this one? For example are they really going to give a £7,500 grant to someone who has lost perhaps 5% of their business due to the Coronavirus? I find that hard to believe. But by the same token, can they really be bothered (and is there actually any feasible way) to determine who has and hasn't been 'adversely affected'?

comeandgo

Off course they will investigate, if your profits are way above the trend you could get investigated.  They can ask for your invoices, and will be able to see if you are ordering goods, your bank statements to see if you have sales being banked.  I think a team of verifiers will very soon cover their costs by investigation.

Jeremy535897

The guidance sets out some of the ways a business can be adversely affected by coronavirus:

"Your business could be adversely affected by coronavirus if, for example:

• you’re unable to work because you:
  • are shielding
  • are self-isolating
  • are on sick leave because of coronavirus
  • have caring responsibilities because of coronavirus
• you’ve had to scale down or temporarily stop trading because:
• your supply chain has been interrupted
• you have fewer or no customers or clients
• your staff are unable to come in to work"

HMRC have said 

"HMRC will use a ‘risk based approach’ to check a person’s compliance with the scheme rules and will take action in cases of suspected fraud."

ProDave

It will be hard to prove fraud.

One of the "qualifying criteria" is "you have fewer or no customers or clients"

That covers me. I definitely have fewer clients.  But it does not define how much reduced my income needs to be to qualify.  My accounts will clearly show much fewer jobs and much lower income at the moment.

However, add on the grant income of 80% and for these 3 months my profit could actually be higher than normal as I am doing some work.  but over the whole year I am sure it will be down, as I think it very unlikely my workload will be back to normal by June.

RyanHello

I am self employed and classed as a sole trader, business has considerably improved due to our competitors being closed. I think a clear conscience is much more beneficial than applying for this. I maybe entitled to something , but if that means problems with being called in at a later date, i'd rather not have that hassle tbh.

The grant should only be for those who's work has dried up completely and are struggling to get by. Anybody who has an online business shouldn't get it IMO. 

Jeremy535897

ProDave said:

It will be hard to prove fraud.

One of the "qualifying criteria" is "you have fewer or no customers or clients"

That covers me. I definitely have fewer clients.  But it does not define how much reduced my income needs to be to qualify.  My accounts will clearly show much fewer jobs and much lower income at the moment.

However, add on the grant income of 80% and for these 3 months my profit could actually be higher than normal as I am doing some work.  but over the whole year I am sure it will be down, as I think it very unlikely my workload will be back to normal by June.

You don't have to show that your business including the grant is worse than it would have been but for coronavirus. The test of "adversely affected" is carried out to confirm eligibility. It would be perverse to include the grant you are testing eligibility for.

RyanHello

Further info regarding HMRC terms and conditions...

"You’ll have to confirm to HMRC that your business has been adversely affected by coronavirus.

If you claim the grant HMRC will treat this as confirmation you’re below the state aid limits.

HMRC will check claims and take appropriate action to withhold or recover payments found to be dishonest or inaccurate."

So be wary before claiming... Don't treat HMRC like some idiots giving FREE money out, it's not that at all.

Jeremy535897

Just so people don't panic, state aid (which would also include the property based grants) limits are usually at least €200,000.