4th Grant SEISS eligibility

MarkB1976

I do my wife's tax returns for her self-employed income. She works 2 days (employed) and the rest is self-employed. She qualified for the first 3 grants as her consultancy work has stopped. The 19-20 return we submitted in January 2021 showed  66/34%in favour of employed income so I understand that this is probably the reason why they now say she can't claim. However on the HMRC website they say:-

"To work out your eligibility for the fourth grant we’ll first look at your 2019 to 2020 Self Assessment tax return. Your trading profits must be no more than £50,000 and at least equal to or more than your non-trading income.

If you’re not eligible based on your 2019 to 2020 Self Assessment tax return, we’ll then look at the tax years 2016 to 2017, 2017 to 2018, 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020."

So I accept my wife isn't eligible based on 19-20 self assessment but if I average out FY17-20 then this proves that her self-employed income is on average 55% and employed income is 45%. Surely she has a right to claim for the fourth grant?

Jeremy535897

MarkB1976 said:

I do my wife's tax returns for her self-employed income. She works 2 days (employed) and the rest is self-employed. She qualified for the first 3 grants as her consultancy work has stopped. The 19-20 return we submitted in January 2021 showed  66/34%in favour of employed income so I understand that this is probably the reason why they now say she can't claim. However on the HMRC website they say:-

"To work out your eligibility for the fourth grant we’ll first look at your 2019 to 2020 Self Assessment tax return. Your trading profits must be no more than £50,000 and at least equal to or more than your non-trading income.

If you’re not eligible based on your 2019 to 2020 Self Assessment tax return, we’ll then look at the tax years 2016 to 2017, 2017 to 2018, 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020."

So I accept my wife isn't eligible based on 19-20 self assessment but if I average out FY17-20 then this proves that her self-employed income is on average 55% and employed income is 45%. Surely she has a right to claim for the fourth grant?

If she meets all the other criteria, including that she intends to continue to trade, then yes, depending on how you have done the workings. To get the correct result, add up all her trading results for 2016/17 to 2019/20 inclusive, and do the same for all her other taxable income for the same four years. If the trading income is equal to or exceeds the other taxable income, the test is met.

. I have a suspicion that HMRC's systems may be advising people in this situation, wrongly, that they cannot claim the 4th grant.

MarkB1976

Jeremy535897 said:

MarkB1976 said:

I do my wife's tax returns for her self-employed income. She works 2 days (employed) and the rest is self-employed. She qualified for the first 3 grants as her consultancy work has stopped. The 19-20 return we submitted in January 2021 showed  66/34%in favour of employed income so I understand that this is probably the reason why they now say she can't claim. However on the HMRC website they say:-

"To work out your eligibility for the fourth grant we’ll first look at your 2019 to 2020 Self Assessment tax return. Your trading profits must be no more than £50,000 and at least equal to or more than your non-trading income.

If you’re not eligible based on your 2019 to 2020 Self Assessment tax return, we’ll then look at the tax years 2016 to 2017, 2017 to 2018, 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020."

So I accept my wife isn't eligible based on 19-20 self assessment but if I average out FY17-20 then this proves that her self-employed income is on average 55% and employed income is 45%. Surely she has a right to claim for the fourth grant?

If she meets all the other criteria, including that she intends to continue to trade, then yes, depending on how you have done the workings. To get the correct result, add up all her trading results for 2016/17 to 2019/20 inclusive, and do the same for all her other taxable income for the same four years. If the trading income is equal to or exceeds the other taxable income, the test is met.

. I have a suspicion that HMRC's systems may be advising people in this situation, wrongly, that they cannot claim the 4th grant.

Thanks, I have that feeling too as the maths proves that the cumulative trading income over four years is greater than cumulative other taxable income over same period.