Self-employment Income Support Scheme

(asked on 11th March 2021) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of an advance payment system for people who are (a) facing financial hardship and (b) struggling financially following payment of self-assessment tax returns prior to the issuing of the fourth grant under that scheme.


Answered by
Jesse Norman Portrait
Jesse Norman
This question was answered on 16th March 2021

The fourth Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant will be available to claim from late April and HMRC will contact potential claimants from mid-April. This is because HMRC will need to process the data received in millions of 2019/20 Self-Assessment returns prior to making payments.

In recognition of the immense pressures that many people are facing due the pandemic, the Government sought to provide a breathing space by waiving the penalty for the late filing of tax returns received after the 31 January statutory deadline and by 28 February. Self-Assessment returns filed by 2 March can now be taken into account for the fourth and fifth SEISS grant.

For those requiring further support, the SEISS continues to be just one element of a wider package of support for the self-employed. The temporary £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance has been extended for six months, and the Government has decided to extend the suspension of the Minimum Income Floor for three months, to the end of July 2021, so that where self-employed claimants' earnings have fallen significantly, their Universal Credit award will have increased to reflect their lower earnings. In addition to this, they may also have access to other elements of the package, including Restart Grants, the Recovery Loan scheme, business rates relief, and other business support schemes.

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