Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance his Department published before the Budget on 3 March 2021 on the requirement to have filed a 2019-20 self-assessment tax return by 2 March 2021 in order to be eligible for the fourth Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant.

The Government announced at Budget on 3 March that the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will continue until September, with a fourth and a final fifth grant. This provides certainty to business as the economy reopens and means the SEISS continues to be one of the most generous schemes for the self-employed in the world.

The Chancellor also announced that the fourth and fifth SEISS grants would be based on 2019-20 Self-Assessment tax returns and individuals must have submitted their 2019-20 tax return by 2 March 2021. This date balances access for the vast majority of eligible self-employed individuals, with the duty to protect the taxpayer against fraud as the details of the SEISS grants became public.

HM Revenue & Customs waived the late filing penalty for Self-Assessment tax returns filed online by 28 February to provide relief to all self-assessment taxpayers and agents at a time of unprecedented pressure. The statutory filing deadline of 31 January did not change.

Further information about the fourth grant is available in recently published guidance: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme.