Self-employed: Coronavirus

(asked on 23rd March 2020) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of supporting self-employed people during the covid-19 outbreak by providing grants that cover 80 per cent of their average salary, using the last three years as a basis.


Answered by
Jesse Norman Portrait
Jesse Norman
This question was answered on 21st April 2020

The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced new support for the self-employed on 26 March 2020.

The new Self-Employed Income Support Scheme will help those with lost trading profits due to COVID-19. It will allow eligible individuals to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of their trading profits up to a maximum of £2,500 per month for the next 3 months. This may be extended if needed and is one of the most generous self-employed support schemes in the world.

To qualify, an individual’s self-employed trading profits must be less than £50,000 and more than half of their income must come from self-employment. Some 95% of people who receive most of their income from self-employment will benefit from this Scheme.

HM Revenue & Customs will contact individuals if they are eligible and will invite them to apply online using a simple form. HMRC are working on this urgently and expect people to be able to access the Scheme no later than the beginning of June.

More information about the Scheme, including the full eligibility criteria and how to claim, is available at www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme

The Scheme supplements the significant support already announced for UK businesses and employees, including the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and deferral of tax payments.

More information about the full range of business support measures is available at www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support/.

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