Worried I won't get any work again and Impaxt on geant

loveka

Hello.

I had self emloyed work booked throughout 2020 which obviously got cancelled due to Corona so I have claimed the grants.

It now seems that the client I was booked by has taken exception to something I said to a colleague and has decided never to employ me again. They have told the colleague this, not me!

They were my main client. The other two clients I worked for have done a little bit of work via Zoom which they haven't used me for.

My concern is that I have now tipped into an older age bracket ( important in my industry, though completely unfair) I have also moved house so I know there is a perception that my expenses will be very high.

I could try for new clients, but my industry is very oversubscribed and there is only a small amount of work for someone in my age bracket. Clients will use people they have worked with for many years.

Apart from feeling that I have been chucked in the stag heap after 25 years I'm worried about what will happen if I never get any work again.

I have actually set up a small business during lockdown but the income will be filed as income from property ( income only started last week) 

Thanks for any help you can offer.

ReThinkMoney

What kind of help are you after? 

Are you able to expand into other lines of work or work for somebody else?

Jeremy535897

I suggest you keep trying for new work. You need to intend to continue to trade to have any chance of claiming SEISS 5.

loveka

ReThinkMoney said:

What kind of help are you after? 

Are you able to expand into other lines of work or work for somebody else?

As I said in my post I have set up a small business.

The title says what help I need- what is the impact of me never working again on the grants I have received.

poppy12345

Part of the criteria for all of the previous grants was you intended to continue trading in the 2020/21 tax year for at least part of the year.

macman

Perhaps you could tell us which grants you have actually received so far? SEISS 1, 2 and 3? SEISS 4? So far you've been very vague about what you've received and earned, and in which tax year.

loveka

Sorry, yes I received all 4 Seiss grants. I earnt roughly the same every tax year- so usually £30- £40 k each year.

I am worried that if I never actually earn anything as self employed again they will ask for it back!

I have emails proving I had work in my diary cancelled up to December 2020. My  industry hasn't really been able to operate during lockdown apart from via Zoom in a very small way. It is a service I provide.

I was absolutely planning to carry on trading, but I am not being offered any work at all.

Pennywise

Can you cut your prices or do something slightly different just to get some work, to "prove" you're still trading?  It may well be worth doing some jobs at much lower than usual rates just so that you have something to declare as self employed income on your next tax return.  There are huge numbers of people claiming the SEISS so HMRC can't "enquire" into everyone, so they'll do desktop reviews of the information they do have.  A big red flag will be no self employed income on the 21/22 tax returns which is also very easy for them to program their computer to check 21/22 tax returns showing no S/e income against those who claimed SEISS grants in 20/21.  They can easily get that list at the click of a button and investigate only those.  By doing "some" self employed work in the same or similar field after the SEISS grants you could avoid showing up on such a list.  Otherwise, if you don't work again, then you've got an uphill job of trying to prove your "intention" to trade again after Covid which will be hard, especially as you've moved house in the meantime which could give the impression of having given up the old business if it had locality implications.  I think you need to be very careful to preserve whatever "evidence" you have of your intention to continue trading, i.e. keeping CPD, subscriptions, licences, etc up to date, copies of emails/letters you've sent enquiring or applying for work, etc.

macman

SEISS 5 should not be an issue, as long as you can demonstrate that you are still trading, or at least attempting to. Although the final details are not known yet, it'll still be based on the qualifying year of 19/20, which you have already submitted your return for, if you've already got SEISS 4.
The grants are not contingent on you continuing your existing trade: you might find yourself doing something entirely different during the rest of tax year 20/21, and that alone will not invalidate your claim.

loveka

Thanks for your replies. The daily rate I get paid is set by the client who employs me so I can't really charge any less for the same service.

The house move wouldn't impact my work as a lot of it was abroad, mainly Europe which now won't return due to Brexit.

The business I have set up will give me an income but it can't really be declared as self employed. It's a camp site!

I don't mind not claiming the next grant, it is more whether they will want the first 4 grants back.

Jeremy535897

So long as there is evidence that you intended to continue to trade at the time you claimed, met all the other criteria, and you can declare some self employment income in 2020/21 (not just receipt of grants), it is unlikely you would be asked to repay earlier grants.