SEISS Grant 4 Rejection

The_Divine_Mrs_Jones

Hello all,
I have just received an email from HMRC saying that I earned too little in the last financial year 2019/2020 to be eligible for the forth grant. I was relying on that money to help me out. I borrowed from a friend on the condition that I would pay her back out of the 4th grant, now I am completely stuck...I would have thought that because I earned so little that I had more of a chance to being eligible....Oh, how wrong I was.
Has anyone else had bad news from HMRC regarding the 4th grant?
Thank you for taking time out to read this...much appreciated.

soolin

The_Divine_Mrs_Jones said:

Hello all,
I have just received an email from HMRC saying that I earned too little in the last financial year 2019/2020 to be eligible for the forth grant. I was relying on that money to help me out. I borrowed from a friend on the condition that I would pay her back out of the 4th grant, now I am completely stuck...I would have thought that because I earned so little that I had more of a chance to being eligible....Oh, how wrong I was.
Has anyone else had bad news from HMRC regarding the 4th grant?
Thank you for taking time out to read this...much appreciated.

I’ve had an email saying it appears I am eligible and giving me a date on which I can apply. If you believe based on your last tax return and the grant requirements (which has different requirements this time) that you eligible then phone and ask them why they don’t believe you are eligible.

antonic

The_Divine_Mrs_Jones said:

Hello all,
I have just received an email from HMRC saying that I earned too little in the last financial year 2019/2020 to be eligible for the forth grant. I was relying on that money to help me out. I borrowed from a friend on the condition that I would pay her back out of the 4th grant, now I am completely stuck...I would have thought that because I earned so little that I had more of a chance to being eligible....Oh, how wrong I was.
Has anyone else had bad news from HMRC regarding the 4th grant?
Thank you for taking time out to read this...much appreciated.

There is no level of profitabilty qualification.
Was your self employed profit greater than your other income ?

Jeremy535897

The 4th grant takes 2019/20 results into account, so may reduce the level of profits taken into account in calculating the grant, if they were lower than the average of the previous three years. They would not stop you being eligible, though, except in unusual circumstances. See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/self-employment-income-support-scheme-grant-extension/self-employment-income-support-scheme-grant-extension

and https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme

soolin

antonic said:

The_Divine_Mrs_Jones said:

Hello all,
I have just received an email from HMRC saying that I earned too little in the last financial year 2019/2020 to be eligible for the forth grant. I was relying on that money to help me out. I borrowed from a friend on the condition that I would pay her back out of the 4th grant, now I am completely stuck...I would have thought that because I earned so little that I had more of a chance to being eligible....Oh, how wrong I was.
Has anyone else had bad news from HMRC regarding the 4th grant?
Thank you for taking time out to read this...much appreciated.

There is no level of profitabilty qualification.
Was your self employed profit greater than your other income ?

I suspect you may have the answer with this. I have seen mention on other forums where people have dropped out of eligibility as for the 2019/2020 tax year either their 'other' income had increased or their self employed income had started to fall away naturally and the balance dropped with more non self employed income being declared. 

It's a new poster so we will never know if we have helped at all unless they bother to come back with additional information. 

The_Divine_Mrs_Jones

Thank you all who have responded and for taking time to do so.
I sold my jointly owned house in 2019. I did not get a great deal from the equity and was homeless, living in a car for about 3 months. My credit file was dire and when credit checked, I was refused private rental. I have since moved in to a 2 bed roomed flat, so I have a roof over my head.
In 2019 I did not and could not work for months, hence is small amount of income that I did get. I lived off the remainder of the equity and stored my furniture etc in a storage unit. 
I am including the email that I received this morning.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"

Dear customer,

We are writing to you as you’ve previously claimed a Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant. Based on the latest information we hold, we do not think you will be eligible to claim the fourth SEISS grant, which covers the period of February 2021 to April 2021.

We realise the significant financial impact that this might have, which is why we have contacted you as soon as possible. We would also like to provide you with details of other support that you may be eligible for.

Why you may not eligible for the fourth grant

There are a number of reasons why you may not be eligible for the fourth SEISS grant, for example:

·         you are not registered as self-employed with HMRC ·         before coronavirus restrictions, your average profits were more than £50,000 ·         before coronavirus restrictions, you earned less from self-employment than income you got from elsewhere ·         you did not submit your Self Assessment tax return for 2019 to 2020 on or before 2 March 2021.

You can easily find out the exact reason why you are not eligible by signing in to your Government Gateway account. To do this, search ‘Return to Self-Employment Income Support Scheme’ on GOV.​UK.

If you believe we have made a mistake

If you think the reason shown in your account is incorrect, you can ask us to review your eligibility by selecting the ‘If you don’t agree’ option. Using the online service is the only way to begin the review process. You will need to tell us what you think is wrong and you may have to provide evidence.

Once you have found out the reason why you are no longer eligible, your tax advisor may be able to answer questions you may have.

Other Coronavirus support

You may still be eligible for other UK Government support, including Restart Grants, the Recovery Loan scheme, business rates relief and other business support schemes.

If you are eligible for Universal Credit, the temporary increase to the standard allowance has been extended for six months. If your earnings have fallen significantly, your award will have increased to reflect your lower earnings following temporary suspension of the Minimum Income Floor. Search ‘Universal Credit’ on GOV.​UK to find out about eligibility.

For more details, search ‘coronavirus support’ on GOV.​UK.

Protect yourself from scams

Stay vigilant about scams, which may mimic government messages as a way of appearing authentic. Search ‘Check a list of genuine HMRC contacts’ on GOV.​UK for information on how to recognise genuine HMRC contact. You can forward suspicious emails claiming to be from HMRC to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk and texts to 60599.

Access the National Cyber Security Centre’s guide on how to stay secure online and protect yourself and your business against cyber crime by searching ‘Cyber Aware’ on GOV.​UK.

Yours sincerely"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I believe that it is a generic email, so many people will receive the same as me. 

I receive a little Universal Credit towards my housing etc. I have spoken to them about help and apparently there is very little that they can do for me. 

I contracted a virus in my right eye in January and could not see out of it for many weeks. I am still having to apply ointment 5 times a day for it. This has not helped me because my work includes a lot of reading and I have not been able to. My rent went up at the beginning of April and I am in debt to my friend, my utility company and the council tax. The grant would have covered all of that and I am still feeling the sting of the rejection....as are so many....

I am sorry to seem to be a Debbie Downer with regard to this...I always try to find the positive in everything...but this time...I am truly stumped.

Many thanks again for taking time to read about my tale of woe...

Regards

soolin

I am sorry to hear of your predicament it cannot have been easy. Whilst you have not been specific with figures you have alluded to a change in income and I suspect it is as atonic suggests and your self employed income dropped below the level of your income from other sources. That does mean you would not be eligible for the 4th grant .

there are other sub boards here on MSE that might be able to offer useful suggestions for instance the benefits board who can tell you how to check your entitlement to benefits and other state help. Also perhaps several of the money saver threads about cutting back and saving outgoings wherever possible, and I hope you find some way to improve your current situation, and get better very soon. 

sheramber

Your income was not down because  of covid or  lockdown so you would not be entitled to the grant as it is for businesses who have reduced profit due to restrictions from covid.

Jeremy535897

What reason does the Government Gateway account give? Did you file your 2019/20 return in time?

poppy12345

i note that you're claiming Universal Credit. Are you also claiming council tax reduction? this isn'[t part of UC and needs to be claimed from your local council. https://www.gov.uk/apply-council-tax-reduction

The_Divine_Mrs_Jones

Thank you everyone for your responses and suggestions. I do appreciate all of your ideas and will follow a lot of them to see if I can get help.

Again, thank you.