Self-employment Income Support Scheme

(asked on 18th May 2020) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will extend the Coronavirus Self-Employment Income Support Scheme to cover people who became self-employed in August 2018 and are not permitted to claim as a result of employed income having comprised the majority of their income during that financial year.


Answered by
Jesse Norman Portrait
Jesse Norman
This question was answered on 22nd May 2020

The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) is designed to provide financial support to those who rely on self-employment as their main source of income. This aims to ensure the SEISS is targeted at those who need it the most. Many individuals earn small amounts of income from self-employment in addition to income from employment and other sources.

Self-employed individuals, including members of partnerships, are eligible for the SEISS if they have submitted their Income Tax Self Assessment tax return for the tax year 2018-19, continued to trade, and have been adversely affected by COVID-19. To qualify, their self-employed trading profits must be less than £50,000, with more than half of their income coming from self-employment. Some 95 per cent of people who receive the majority of their income from self-employment could benefit from this scheme.

Those with trading profits less than 50% of their total income may still benefit from other support, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Individuals may have access to a range of grants and loans depending on their circumstances, and the SEISS supplements the significant support already announced for UK businesses, including the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, Bounce Back Loans Scheme, and the deferral of tax payments.

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