Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he has made an assessment of the potential merits of enabling newly self-employed people who do not qualify for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme to submit (a) copies of invoices and verification for services or products and (b) copies of business bank accounts to HMRC to verify payments.

It has not been possible to include those who began trading after the 2018-19 tax year in the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme. This was a very difficult decision and it was taken for practical reasons.

In order to minimise the risk of fraud, the SEISS has been designed to use information already known to HMRC. HMRC would not be able to distinguish genuine self-employed individuals who started trading in 2019-20 from fake applications by fraudulent operators and organised criminal gangs seeking to exploit the SEISS. The Government cannot expose the tax system to these risks.

The newly self-employed may be eligible for other elements of the unprecedented financial support provided by the Government. This package includes Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support,?increased levels of Universal Credit, mortgage holidays, and other business support grants.