Self-employed income support scheme fast-tracked

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has written to the CIOT, announcing that claims for the SEISS will start to open from 13 May, and that payments will be received into claimants’ bank accounts from 25 May, ahead of the original June schedule.

HMRC has started contacting taxpayers identified as eligible for the scheme and has made an eligibility checker available online. Taxpayers who use the checker and are confirmed to be eligible will be given a date from which they can make a claim.

HMRC has also released guidance on the revised process, noting that ‘the claims process will be very simple, and those eligible will have the money paid into their bank account by 25 May, or within six working days of completing a claim’. 

HMRC’s new guidance How different circumstances affect the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, published on 1 May, addresses taxpayers who filed their self-assessment tax returns late for 2018/19 (but by the 23 April 2020 deadline for claims under SEISS) and those in other circumstances which may affect their eligibility to claim, including members of partnerships and individuals with outstanding loans affected by the loan charge provisions.