Self-employed: Coronavirus

(asked on 14th December 2020) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support the future of self-employment in the UK following the ineligibility of many self-employed individuals for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.


Answered by
Jesse Norman Portrait
Jesse Norman
This question was answered on 17th December 2020

The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) has provided and will continue to provide substantial support to self-employed people who meet the eligibility criteria.

The design of the SEISS, including the eligibility requirement that an individual’s trading profits must be no more than £50,000 and at least equal to their non-trading income, means it is targeted at those who most need it, and who are most reliant on their self-employment income.

The first SEISS grant supported 2.7 million individuals with claims totalling £7.8 billion. A further £5.9 billion has been claimed through the second SEISS grant.

Applications for the third SEISS grant opened on 30 November. The third grant covers the three-month period from November 2020 until January 2021. It is a taxable grant calculated at 80 per cent of three months’ average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment and capped at £7,500 in total. Combined with up to £14,070 worth of support for each individual from the first and second grants, it makes the SEISS one of the most generous schemes for the self-employed in the world.

There will also be a fourth grant covering February to April 2021. The Government will set out further details, including the level of the fourth grant, in due course.

The SEISS continues to be just one element of a comprehensive package of support for the self-employed which includes Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.

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