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.

ScarfLady - ignore me! I meant 18-19!

Had to reregister it sorry. I’ll be really upset if that’s the issue because I didn’t get post for a year and HMRC know this

I bloody hate tax years I always have to stop and think about it.

I can apply on the 16th. It's a bit of a bugger as I was on maternity leave last year so my earnings were down a fair bit, but the other two years will thankfully pull it up a bit.

They ask you to keep evidence in your files that your business has been affected but don't actually offer any suggestions of what that might be. I've had to turn down some work due to childcare and also negotiate longer deadlines for work I do have, and thus later payment, so I guess I'll just make a note of that should I ever get audited.

They asked me to update my email/mobile details but I wasn't asked for additional security measures. I did get a date for when I can apply, though. Did they miss something with me or does it just mean I'd set up my security already? I can't remember if I have ever set it up.

IntermittentParps - additional security is just for new Gateway accounts I think. You can just log back in again and see if it does anything different.

Yes, I'll try later. I'm not really worried as it did give me a date to apply. Just don't want to start my application on the day and then hit a snag. Thanks!

I already had 2FA set up on my Gateway account so didn't need to do any other security stuff

I can apply on the 15th. Thanks for this thread OP as I was feeling a little lost and hadn’t realised anything had updated. Has anyone had any luck with the bounce back loan scheme? I had only been aware of the interruption scheme and didn’t qualify as I didn’t want/need that large a lending. Have applied for the bounce back now but no idea if those are being successful for many applicants.

@Bimbleboo you can only apply for the loan if you bank with an approved provider, Barclays, Lloyd etc

Sorry I see you’ve done that

@chrissiekeller61 yes applied. Not sure how likely it is to be approved or how I even find out if it was. The reply was instant and i doubt its going to be as easy as it seemed. Cynical!

BImbleboo - it's been a long old wait for the self employed hasn't it, good to see it moving along. Fingers crossed the scheme works as advertised and there aren't any hidden trap doors! I'm also really hoping they extend the grant scheme at least by another month to bring it in line with furloughed workers who are now covered to the end of June as a lot of self employed peeps are going to have a mountain to climb to get back up and running again.

@snorkelface it really has. And I’m just really suspicious that it will transpire that there are a million loopholes and hurdles set up that will leave most of us screwed over and not as able to pull through this as they’ve made us believe we might. I’m definitely feeling cynical

Yes it's the 19/20 tax due in next January that I was meaning, and the 20/21 year due after that. Theoretically, I could fill in the 19/20 self assessment now, as I have all my figures from the year, but I'd rather wait and include 1/3 of the grant as the March component as part of that year's income, and then include the other 2/3 in the following year's accounts, as part of the next year, because that would match up with when I normally earn the income that it's meant to replace. So I'd rather split the tax due on the grant into those years as well. But I don't know if it will be allowed, to do it that way.

It's nothing to do with the actual calculation of the amount, which is based on the previous 3 years, and should be straightforward to calculate. I think it said I could apply from 9am on the 13th, so I'm one of the earlier ones (maybe because I've been self-employed for quite a few years now? Don't know how else they decide, as I'm not near the start of the alphabet or anything!).

Ooooh, two Bimble people side by side!

When does the scheme officially start from, March isn't it, 23rd was the first day off school, so that would fall into the previous tax year wouldn't it. And before lockdown if people had less money due to that part that would be affecting them then as well.

Does anyone understand how this works? The maximum is £7,500. So how do you declare your actual loss, which may be less than that? Is it loss over 3 months only? What if your self employed earnings have gone down but your employed earnings have gone up?

You don't declare loss. It's a grant based on your average earnings, not what you've lost.

If you made a loss and had employee earnings @Uygop you’re not getting a penny

And if you are both self-employed and in employment, more than 50% of the income you've declared in previous tax returns must be self-employed income to be eligible. No one has to prove hardship or financial loss to access the money (but you do have to state your business has been suffer and they ask you to keep evidence of this in your files)

*been affected

And yes, it's profit the grant is based on, but I think you mean loss as the amount of money you should have earned but haven't, as opposed to your business making a loss.

To find out what you are due, if you are eligible;

Say you earned 20k after expenses one year, 23k the next and 25k the third - your average yearly income is 22.6k.

Divide that by 12 to get ~1800 per month, then multiply by three to get the full amount over the three-month period the grant covers, so 5.6k.

Then 80% of that is 4.4k.

Because it is taken into account in tax credits, I'm not sure it is even worth applying for those on them. I'm not sure. It will depend on the rest of the year. But of course TC go down as income / profit goes up...

Have checked and am eligible to apply on 15th but worryingly I failed the identity check. My passport isn’t British and my credit check failed so not sure how that’ll play out.