Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to progress a directors’ income support scheme package for directors of limited companies.

The Government always welcomes constructive proposals from stakeholders to improve the design of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), including the suggestion for a Directors Income Support Scheme (DISS) from the Federation of Small Businesses, ForgottenLtd, Re Legal Consulting Ltd, and ACCA UK. This proposal aims to provide a new system for company directors, based on reported profits. The Government has considered this proposal in detail.

The DISS, as currently framed, is intrinsically reliant on self-certification. As the Government cannot readily verify this information, an effect of this reliance on self-certification is to open the scheme up to an unacceptable level of fraud by organised criminal groups and others who would seek to exploit the scheme. The Government cannot expose the tax system to these risks but continues to engage with the FSB regarding these concerns.