SEISS Help

Jeremy535897

I can hardly blame you for not understanding this, as it is extremely complicated (although to be fair to the government, I don't think they realised it would be so difficult).
When in doubt, ignore the guidance and look at the law, which says:
"4.2 Subject to paragraph 4.3 [irrelevant  here], a claim may only be made for a SEISS 3 payment in respect of the period beginning on 1 November 2020 and ending on 29 January 2021 (“the qualifying period”) in relation to a trade—
(a) the business of which has suffered reduced activity, capacity or demand in that period from that which could reasonably have been expected but for the adverse effect on the business of coronavirus or coronavirus disease, and
(b) which the claimant reasonably believes will suffer a significant reduction in trading profits for a relevant basis period from that which would otherwise have reasonably been expected as a result of that reduced activity, capacity or demand."

For (a), you look at what happened in the period 1 November 2020 to 29 January 2021 to your business. It sounds from what you say about invoices that October was good and January will be poor. That's what matters, not when you send out bills.
For (b), you look at what trading profits you expect in the year to 31 March 2021, and that will reflect the amounts you expect to be paid in that year, not the amounts you invoice. That means you need to look at what you will be able to invoice for work done in the period 1 November 2020 to 29 January 2021, compared with what you might have invoiced for that period in a normal year, and then see if that reduction is significant in the context of what profit you expect for the year to 31 March 2021 (calculated on work done March 2020 to February 2021 as your profits are computed on a cash basis).

I suggest you claim, assuming you meet all the other criteria, and keep a copy of this exchange as well as any workings you do based on it. It may turn out I am wrong, but if you "reasonably believe" in your calculations based on this exchange, HMRC cannot criticise you.

Grumpy_chap

Based upon what the OP has set out in this thread I am of the reasonable belief that the OP has suffered a significant reduction in trading profits due to reduced business activity, capacity, demand or inability to trade due to coronavirus during 1 November 2020 to 29 January 2021.

Dannii2006

Thank you both for your help. I really appreciate it