Claimed SEISS 1 & 2 but now profit is up. Trouble ahead?

SeagullFTB

The last year has been mental. I'm self employed and usually earn around £40-50k profit per year. When the first self employed grants were available, I claimed them. I got the maximum amount for grant 1 and 2 totalling around £14k. 

At the time my turnover was down around 10%. 1 of my 3 employees was shielding on furlough pay due to health issues which meant I was doing a lot of extra hours just to keep the business going. I obviously incurred some extra costs like PPE and a laptop for a different employee so they could do some work from home, due to childcare issues.

I didn't claim grant 3 and won't claim grant 4 or 5. Business picked up at the end of September and has actually thrived since. Now the year is ending, my total turnover is similar to the previous year and my profit is slightly higher. I am however owed quite a lot in outstanding debtors and it's not entirely certain if all of this will be paid, which has impacted my cash flow. The grants provided much needed cash flow.

Will HMRC expect the grant money back? I haven't really got the cash funds available to repay it. What exactly were the requirements for the earlier grants? 

Jeremy535897

You had to show that your business was adversely affected by coronavirus at the relevant times. Even having to buy PPE counted as adversely affected for SEISS 1 and 2. There was no requirement to show a significant reduction in trading profits like SEISS 3.

CKhalvashi

I believe that you have to show you were affected at the relevant time, so no there shouldn't be an issue with this for you.

justwhat

As long as you were entitled at time of application its fine.