Seamstress non fittings

sizorlegs

Hey I'm a seamstress and I have carried on working but I'm not doing fittings or allowing anyone into my home. Customers drop stuff off at my front door and I drop the finished items to my front door for collection. I wear a face covering and gloves and my customers also wear face coverings and I've been adhering to social distancing.

Will I be penalised for working even though I have not been in close contact with anyone? I wasn't entitled to the past 3 grants due to really stupid way it was designed. I don't have enough savings to fall back on and I don't trust universal credit because they give with one hand and take with the other so I was left with no alternative other than to carry on working. I'm not rich and my profits have plummeted since covid and I've turned sooooo many people away because they needed fittings and I've told them I can't do it. I have emails and texts to show this.

Does anyone know where I stand?

I'm not even sure if I'll be allowed to claim the 4th grant because I've been working.

Thanks.

elsien

I can’t see anything in the guidance that says you shouldn’t be working, if people aren’t coming into your home. 

I’d argue you’d fall into this bit:  Any business or venue that provides goods for sale or hire and is not listed above must close (other than where there is an explicit exemption for a specific purpose). They may continue offering delivery and click-and-collect services (where items are pre-ordered and collected without entering the premises). People can also collect or return orders from these businesses. 

The virus is now thought more likely to be spread by airborne droplets, not transmission via “things”, so which bit of the guidance makes you think you might be penalised? 

Or has someone said something to you? 

If people are travelling a distance to get to you, that’s their responsibility and decision, not yours.

Jeremy535897

You don't have to stop working to claim the SEISS grants. For the first two, you had to show your business was adversely affected by coronavirus at the relevant times. Your purchase of PPE would have sufficed. There are more stringent requirements for later grants, but still no requirement to stop working altogether. For SEISS 4 see:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/self-employment-income-support-scheme-grant-extension/self-employment-income-support-scheme-grant-extension

soolin

Why were you not entitled to the first 3 grants , which part of the criteria could you not fulfil? 

I carried on working but was entitled to claim as my work was affected and in fact just looking at my figures for the upcoming 2021 tax return it’s fairly obvious I was not turning over what I would normally expect to based on previous years. 

macman

Sounds like you have missed the chance to claim SEISS 1 to 3 because you have totally failed to understand the qualifying standards: it has nothing to do with being able to continue working. Have you submitted your 19/20 self assessment return?

sizorlegs

Thanks for all of your replies.

During the first lockdown I received a text from HMRC telling me I had to stay home so I literally did not work at all apart from being paid for running a few errands for a lady I used to clean for.

The reason I wasn't entitled to claim 1-3 grants was because when I first became self employed I set myself up as a seamstress but I also had a few cleaning jobs. I didn't class the cleaning jobs as self employed work so when I did my tax return I declared the money as extra income. And the money from being a seamstress as self employed income. Because I made more from the cleaning jobs it meant that my self employed seamstress income was less than 50% of my extra income. It wasn't until I queried why I wasn't entitled that I learned that I was meant to declare my cleaning jobs as self employed too. So I corrected this for 2019/2020 and have submitted my return.

Why I'm concerned that I may be penalised is because tailors and I assume seamstresses were instructed to close. But as I said I couldn't afford to close but I have been very careful not to be in close contact with anyone and not allow anyone into my home.

Jeremy535897

Shops were told to close, but can make arrangements for people to drop off and collect items, or just use the post. In any event, I doubt very much that there is any connection between claiming a SEISS grant and lockdown regulation enforcement.

I am not aware that HMRC sent texts about staying at home to anyone. What did the text say, and are you sure it was from HMRC? 

sizorlegs

Thanks well I'm hoping it all goes ok because I'd sooner not claim at all and just struggle along as I've done the whole of the pandemic.

Yes I received a text in march last year from HMRC. My daughter who is a key worker received a letter telling her she could go to work and to carry the letter with her in case she was stopped by police. I thought this was normal. If the text wasn't from HMRC well it kept me from working. Doh!

sizorlegs

I've just looked it up, it was from HMRC. Their we site from march last year confirmed it was genuine.

Jeremy535897

I think it was from GOV.UK?
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/coronavirus-sms-messages

“GOV.UK CORONAVIRUS ALERT New rules in force now: you must stay at home. More info & exemptions at gov.uk/coronavirus Stay at home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.”

It was just a generic message. You could leave home to work, unless you could work from home. In the early days of lockdown there was some public opinion questioning whether cleaners should continue to clean private homes, but it was always permitted. Employees asked employers for letters so that they could deal with police questions quickly, but as you were also allowed to do essential shopping, police couldn't just stop everyone.

Anyway, that is in the past. The conditions for claiming SEISS 4 are in the link I posted. If you qualify, claim.

soolin

sizorlegs said:

Thanks for all of your replies.

During the first lockdown I received a text from HMRC telling me I had to stay home so I literally did not work at all apart from being paid for running a few errands for a lady I used to clean for.

The reason I wasn't entitled to claim 1-3 grants was because when I first became self employed I set myself up as a seamstress but I also had a few cleaning jobs. I didn't class the cleaning jobs as self employed work so when I did my tax return I declared the money as extra income. And the money from being a seamstress as self employed income. Because I made more from the cleaning jobs it meant that my self employed seamstress income was less than 50% of my extra income. It wasn't until I queried why I wasn't entitled that I learned that I was meant to declare my cleaning jobs as self employed too. So I corrected this for 2019/2020 and have submitted my return.

Why I'm concerned that I may be penalised is because tailors and I assume seamstresses were instructed to close. But as I said I couldn't afford to close but I have been very careful not to be in close contact with anyone and not allow anyone into my home.

Exactly what category did you declare the cleaning jobs under? Did you receive payslips etc from an employer who paid tax and NI for you making you employed or did you get the equivalent of cash in hand which would have been self employment? 

As above the government sent out stay at home alerts to everyone, my OH and I were inundated with the stay at home texts , but you needed to read and understand what they were actually saying, as for many people work was always allowed within certain restrictions. No one, not even those shielding were told categorically that they were not allowed to work and legally had to stay indoors for months  , my son who is CEV carried on working at home throughout . 

I have a dreadful feeling that you may have misunderstood what you were being told and may have inadvertently done yourself out of the grants due to a fundamental misreading of the information you were given. However, my fear is based on the fact that your cleaning was self employment and not PAYE and that your other income did not total more than all your self employment income added together. 

All you can do now is wait for the next grant and see whether you qualify under the rules specific for this grant, but you will need to know how you declared your cleaning jobs.