I've been a SAHM to my toddler since he was born. He's just been offered a place to start at nursery later this year, at which time I intend to return to my previous self-employed (sole trader) field of work.
However, I'm concerned that initially I won't meet the minimum income criteria for the 30 hours free childcare and tax-free childcare schemes. I lost all my clients when I started maternity leave so I'll essentially be rebuilding my business from scratch, probably with a different focus too, and it'll take some time to get going again.
My understanding is that if I were going to be registering as self-employed for the first time, I'd have a 12 month grace period during which I'd be exempt from meeting these minimum income requirements. But as I'm already registered, I won't be eligible for this exemption despite not working on or earning anything through my business since my son was born - am I right?