Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to allow recipients of income through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme to alter the rate of income tax paid on that income over time.

This question was answered on 28th February 2022

The Government has supported UK households throughout the pandemic with nearly £400 billion of COVID support, including through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) which provided over £28 billion in grants to 2.9 million individuals.

The Government does not think it is right to allow SEISS recipients to alter the rate of tax paid on that income over time. The tax paid on a SEISS grant will depend on an individual’s profits, any other taxable income, and allowances to which a person is entitled. The grants are taxable at the recipient’s rate of Income Tax in the year they were received.

The Government has implemented an unprecedented package of support for taxpayers struggling with paying tax liabilities. HMRC has scaled up its longstanding Time to Pay policy, which allows any business or individual in temporary financial difficulty to schedule their tax debts into affordable, sustainable, and tailored instalment arrangements.