Self-Employed HMRC update

[Snorkelface]

HMRC has added a few updates for the self employed grant scheme.

www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme

While HMRC will be contacting eligible claimants directly over the next couple of weeks with more specific details you can now see if you're eligible to claim and what date you'll be able to lodge your claim by using their on-line tool (about half way down their web page).

You'll need your UTR and NI number to do this and it will also give you the opportunity to set up your Gateway account if you don't already have one and to update your contact details. It's a good idea to set this up now as the website is likely to get very busy when it goes live on 13th May.

You can find both your UTR and NI number on your tax return. If you're setting up your Gateway at the same time you'll need to provide email/mobile details and you'll need to set up additional security measures to identify you using either security questions or drivers license details or your passport. The system can time out so it's a good idea to have all the details to hand.

The deferral is just open to everyone and you don't need to actually tell them. There's no application for it, so you will have needed to cancel your DD, not expect them not to take it

I believe Laurie that if you pay VAT/IncomeTax/Self Assessment by DD then to defer you needed to cancel the DD at least 10 days before collection and then deferral happens automatically.

Ah thanks, will cancel it this month.

Good point about the tax deferral LaurieFairyCake.

HMRC have not actively cancelled tax bills in July. They've taken a totally passive role and left it up to us to make our own decisions over whether to pay our July tax bills and try and keep up to date or leave them until January next year. For anyone who wants to defer payment (me!) and usually pays by BACS this means just not making the transfer when the tax is due in July. There's no forms to fill out or application required to defer the payment.

However if you pay by Direct Debit you probably need to stop the direct debit with your bank to be on the safe side as HMRC may not be making any alternations to this part of their system and will just leave it up to the tax payer to sort it out. Do this asap.

There is also a chance that HMRC will auto-generate reminders to pay the July tax bill in the next few week but you don't have to pay in July if you want to defer.

I can afford to make my July payment, but I'm not sure whether I should defer anyway. I assume that if I pay it, but then at some point down the line earn less and it turns out I've overpaid, it will come out in the wash eventually. What are other people, who do have the money to pay in July, doing?

@IntermittentParps Pay it, its one less debt. Plus it is defered until 31st Jan when you will be paying this years tax plus the first payment on account. It could be a big bill !!

Yes, good points, userxx.

I'm the same Intermittent but because I'm expecting a downturn in work for a while I'm hanging on to the tax money for now. It's a short term cash flow fixer that's there if I need it but hopefully I won't need to touch it.

Sorry if I’ve missed it but all the news coming through about the extension until October seems to be for employed....do we know if this covers the self-employed too?

Classiccar - the extension announced yesterday is just for the employed. Hopefully there'll be something else for the self employed too. And there's still all the people who fell through the cracks who've basically had nothing.

classic
No news for self employed yet

but in GOOD news, one of my clients got his amount confirmed at 8am today and the payment date is stated as Monday
yippee

I've not been contacted yet but I've checked the eligibility whatsit and it says I can claim on the 15th!

I definitely should be eligible according to the criteria but not had a letter yet or an email

Lots of people haven't been contacted. I got the letter two days ago, which really just gives the link at the top of the page and some general info. It also says they will contact me again to tell me when I can claim. No further contact received. The link at the top of this page is all you really need to make the claim - it'll tell you if you're eligible and when you can claim.

@RonSwansonIsBuff You dont need to wait for a letter, just claim tomorrow. I didnt receive a letter but made my claim this morning.

Oh great thank you 😊 I have already checked the eligibility checker on HMRC website which says I am eligible and can claim on 15th so I'll just do it without the letter.

DH tried again yesterday and it still says he is not eligible.

He asked for a review but it said it won't be until after the 18th.

We are positive it is wrong because he meets the criteria but it's like banging your head against a wall. If he isn't eligible then we need to know and need to know why

How is everyone getting on? My OH has a slot tomorrow so we are holding our breath waiting to see... For those who have done it, was it as previously indicated- I.e an instant decision?

@lynsey91 Martin Lewis of MSE said they were still uploading some data until last night:

'- Govt eligibility checker says you're ineligible? Check details & try again: First check all details especially your UTR code and national insurance number - if they're put in wrong, it'll go wrong. Even if they're right, try again, as if you tried early last week, some people's files weren't uploaded and so they were incorrectly told 'no'. If that doesn't work, and you filed your 2018/19 tax return very late, try again this evening (WED), as the final data upload was due last night (Tue), but give it a bit of time to be safe.'

Did your husband file late at all? Might be worth one last try today if you haven't already, just in case.

All done!

As PP have said, it takes 3 minutes. You need your bank account and SortCode number and it will tell you immediately what figure they’ll be paying to you in 6 days time.

Instant decision with the figure of money I will actually receive 👍🏻

Did mine. Quite easy, except the site seemed to be creaking a little bit - got some 'Bad Gateway' error pages and had to start again at one point. Got there in the end, and the figure shown for the grant was as I expected.

Argh I can't log in, it's probably overloaded at the minute.

I cant log in either keeps throwing me out with an error message! Stressed is not the word!

Grrr

Kept getting thrown out due to being timed out, too busy I presume.

Now saying I've entered information that does not match records too many times & must wait 10 minutes to try again.

Very annoying as the information is correct, I just couldn't get in so kept trying!

Those who’ve been given exact figures - were they what you were expecting ? Gosh I hate the uncertainty of all this