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.

Sorry if this has been answered, so next tax payment due the end of July ,if you want to defer you don't need to do anything is that right?

foxy
yup, just do not pay it
BUT
you'll have to write a HUGE cheque in January
so I'd suggest paying if you can, even just part of it

Like Listening Quietly says.

Also remember that in January there'll be the deferred payment to make, plus any balancing payment from 19/20 (if your final tax return was higher than the previous year) plus the first payment on account for 20/21. All in one go.

If you usually leave your tax return until the last minute in January (me!) don't do that this year. It's worth getting on top of it now and staying on top of 20/21 as it pans out to at least get a rough idea of what January's going to look like and beyond.

I'm hoping that there'll be some further concession made by Rishi Sunak to help people get through January but that's a long way off at the moment. We'll see......

@Snorkelface the 2nd grant that people can get in August , do you know the dates that opens and if you get a specific date to make your claim like the first one? Sorry if this has already been asked theres many pages to look through. Thanks

Uhoh2020 - the service becomes available on line from 17th August but HMRC haven't confirmed if they're intending to contact people with a specific date they can claim from like last time or not. They'll confirm details on their website as they become available. The first scheme still has a few more days to run before they shut it down. I'm guessing they'll have to stagger it somehow to stop the system from crashing.

@Snorkelface thank you x

Has anybody asked for a review of the amount? Was meant to have a reply within 10 days but it's been 4 weeks now

I think there's only been one person on here who's spoken about getting the amount reviewed so far - HMRC were in the right on that occasion. Eligibility has been more of an issue. Stick some more details on here if it helps Unicorn.

I accepted the grant and then filled in the form at the end to dispute the amount. Called yesterday and they said I filled in the eligibility form and not the amount review so as I filled in the wrong one it's too late to do anything about it.

Can't work out how it was the wrong one when it was the only one that came up after I had claimed and I had to write a full explanation as to what I was trying to claim for and why 🤷‍♀️

Hey Unicorn, sorry, having a few problems getting Mumsnet to upload attachments, hopefully this one will work.

Is this the form you filled out? After you clicked on the declaration did you get a confirmation email that they'd received it? Or do you have the reference number?

Yes that's the form I filled in! And I got a form reference number but it had no further details to show what I filled in and I didn't think to take screen shots 🤦‍♀️

Unicorn - if you've got the reference number (from the email confirmation?) I'd keep at them, raise it again, remember to take the name of the person on the phone and the exact time of the call. It's a nightmare trying to get them to budge once they've dismissed something but always worth sticking at it. In the meantime do you want to post any figures on here in for anyone to check - just on the off chance there's something that's gone awry and caused the problem. There's been a couple of those including non-trading profit issues and wrong boxes on tax returns. It happens. (and I learnt the hard way a few years ago about always taking screen shots from HMRC!)

A few updates to pass the time between the grants.

HMRC have added a few bits and bobs of information.....

The second grant will become available from 17 August and can be claimed up until 19 October. So we have an end date. You can claim this one if your business has been affected on or after 14 July and you meet all the other eligibility requirements.

There is no information as yet about HMRC contacting anyone this time to tell them they can claim so presume for now you'll need to claim unprompted from 17 August onwards. Anyone who is claiming for the first time in August will need to go through HMRC's Gateway account procedure - HMRC's SEISS claim portal will walk you through it but there's information about it on this thread a couple of pages from the start as well.

HMRC's eligibility criteria is still pretty much the same and still just as broad in its description of what could constitute being adversely affected but it does mention how incurring additional costs (due to having to buy PPE for example) would be treated as a reason to claim the grant. I don't think incurring costs has been talked about that much on here, it's been more about losing work so additional costs is definitely something else to consider if you're not sure you qualify.

There is a new rule for anyone who suffered a downturn in trading profits in 2018-2019 due to taking time out to care for a child within the first 12 months of being born. This could result unfairly in a much lower grant so the parent's 2017-2018 return or both the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 tax returns will be used for the basis of their claim. If this is applies to anyone then definitely click the link at the bottom and read more about it.

There's also now information about telling HMRC if you think you've been overpaid (does anyone know anyone at all that's been overpaid?) or you didn't actually qualify for the grant after all and making a voluntary repayment. If you received a grant (calculated by HMRC not us remember) that gave you much more money than you should have had then obviously fess up because it'll most probably come out in the wash. If you were paid what you expected and were confident you qualified when making the claim for the first grant then nothing has changed. Remember to keep whatever records you can. For some people that's easy due to the nature of their business but if not at least keep a diary to show how you were affected whether it be for any work related reasons, caring responsibilities or sickness etc. Keep doing it going forwards until this is over.

And don't forget the Bounce Back Loan if you need it.

You can read up (you know you want to!) on the latest HMRC guidance here....

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

Anybody had any emails regarding 2nd grant?

@finished31 nothing yet ☹️

Nope nothing here either

Email today about claiming the second grant from Monday. Plays quite heavily on the keeping evidence of loss side.

Thanks @bookgirl1982 I've not had anything and was wondering.

How is everyone to show records of loss? Mine is just literally no bookings on my online website system, and big fat zeros on my spreadsheets so hopefully that's all they want!

HMRC updated their website to say they would contact people about the second grant but I don't know anyone who's been contacted yet and it's technically claimable from tomorrow. The communication from HMRC was a bit random with the first grant too. I'll be giving it a whirl tomorrow to see what happens.

According to HMRC up to 16,000 people were overpaid in error on the first grant. HMRC haven't said by how much or what calculation was wrongly used but if anyone thinks they were overpaid and has kept quiet about it apparently HMRC will be making the correction on this payment (so deducting whatever they overpaid on the first grant from the second grant). So it's worth familiarising yourself with how much you should be getting on the second grant just in case (this one is 70% of average trading profits, rather than the 80% paid out on the first grant) and take a screen shot/download etc of the grant details when you make the claim. People have found dealing with HMRC about errors quite frustrating so the more details of your claim you have the better

Evidence of being adversely affected is whatever you've got. The second grant is for anyone adversely affected from July 14 onwards (the dates HMRC are using across the two grants don't really make much sense any more but they get to make the rules). So you need evidence showing your business suffered from July 14 onwards. There are no rules about what form that should take. As well as your normal business records any additional details about cancelled work, childcare, shielding, additional expenses, additional coronavirus loans, etc are all evidence. Mine is a combination of an empty work diary and income slowly drying up. Everyone is different, keeping a diary of some sort is definitely a good idea. And the grant will remain open to claim until 19 October so if you don't think you've been affected so far and weren't planning on claiming you can still get the grant up to the closing date if things start going down hill as we head into autumn

Please come back and post any info on here when you've made the claim or encounter any difficulties - it's all been really useful and there's probably going to be people claiming this second grant who may not have claimed the first one.

I've been contacted. Not with any specific dates to claim or anything like last time, but just a general email saying those who were eligible last time might be eligible again.

I'm still a bit worried about the evidence, as it's hard to show absence of work or potential future effects like the lack of a waiting list, even if that doesn't mean an immediate drop in work. But the site does say that there is no specific amount that you need to be affected by.

I got an email last night saying I can claim from Tuesday.

No email here - I will attempt tomorrow so fingers crossed

When I signed on it said I can make my claim August 20th

i just tried to log in and it says I can make mine from the 19th August. Last time there was a specific hour of the day the claims could be made from as well but this time it's just the date. No email or letter received from HMRC.

I tried to log in too and it said I could claim from the 21st. I have a friend who was able to claim today and she said it was really simple again. Just fill in the banking details etc and tick a box to say your business has been affected. Money will be with her in a week.