Last month, the Chancellor announced plans to extend the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (“SEISS”) for anyone self-employed whose trade is, adversely affected by COVID-19.

Eligible self-employed people will be able to claim a second and final SEISS grant in August 2020. This will be a taxable grant worth 70 per cent of their average monthly trading profits for three months, paid out in a single instalment and capped at £6,570 in total.

The eligibility criteria for the second grant will be the same as for the first grant. In addition, people do not need to have claimed the first grant in order to claim the second.

Claims for the first SEISS grant, which opened on 13 May, must be made no later than 13 July 2020. Eligible self-employed people must make a claim before that date to receive the first SEISS grant (a taxable grant of 80 per cent of their average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering 3 months’ worth of profits, and capped at £7,500 in total).

It’s really important to note that as with the first SEISS grant, the eligible individual must make the claim themselves. If you attempt to make a claim on behalf of your client, this will trigger a fraud alert and will result in significant delays to payment. However, you can help to prepare your clients by ensuring they have the relevant information ready.

Once again, HMRC will calculate the amount of self-employment support individuals will receive, they don’t need to do this themselves.