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Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) – Should You Pay This Back?

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The Government introduced the SEISS as a grant, not a loan, so this wasn’t something that would be repayable BUT if an individual was not entitled to receive the grant, they are then expected to notify HMRC and make a repayment.

HMRC carry out eligibility checks which looks at previously submitted tax returns and what the levels of trading profits and on-trading income were. Additional to these checks there is other criteria that needs to be met to decide if you were eligible for the SEISS.

There is a chance that a claim for the grant was made but that the eligibility criteria was not fully met. Examples of non-eligibility would be;

  • the trade was not adversely affected by coronavirus in the relevant period. (For claims under the first round of the SEISS, this was the period up to and including July 13, 2020. For the second round of SEISS, it is the period on or after July 14, 2020);
  • the individual ceased to trade (or incorporated their business) in 2019-20; or
  • at the time of making the claim, the individual did not intend to continue to trade.

If you have made a claim but feel that one of the above may apply to you, we suggest you follow the link below to find out more information on how to contact HMRC to discuss your eligibility. It maybe your personal circumstances don’t result in paying back the grant but it’s advisable to check. HMRC are issuing a deadline of the 20 October 2020, or 90 days after receiving the grant for notifications. Failure to do so could result in a non-notification penalty being issued.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tell-hmrc-and-pay-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme-grant-back

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