Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to provide support for self-employed individuals who were not aware that late filing of 2019-20 tax returns would obstruct their access to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

At the Budget on 3 March, the Government announced the details of two further rounds of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). Alongside this, the Government announced that HMRC will now use 2019-20 tax returns to determine the eligibility and award for the SEISS, provided these returns were submitted by 2 March.

This means that hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom became self-employed in 2019-20, may now be able to claim the fourth and fifth grants.

The Government has already given self-employed people more than a month after the statutory deadline to submit their returns. HMRC waived late filing penalties until 28 February. Self-employed individuals who did not file by 31 January will, where possible, have received a notification from HMRC that their return was late.

Allowing returns submitted after the terms and criteria of the SEISS grants were announced on 3 March would have created a significant incentive for fraud. The Government has a duty to protect the tax system from the small minority who would seek to exploit it. The 2 March cut-off point balances access for the vast majority of eligible self-employed individuals, with the Government’s duty to protect the taxpayer against fraud.

The SEISS continues to be just one element of a substantial package of support to the self-employed. The Government has also provided a wide range of loan schemes, business grants, business rates relief, tax cuts, mortgage holidays, increased welfare support, and the Kickstart and Restart schemes.