Check if you are eligible for a Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant in the UK

As of Wednesday 13th May 2020, those working in a self-employed role in the UK, which includes many self-employed genealogists and content providers, will potentially be able to apply for a Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant via HMRC.

To check if you are eligible visit https://www.gov.uk and in the Search box type in Check if you can claim a grant through the coronavirus Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

You will need your UTR number, and your National Insurance Number.

From the Gov.uk website:

Who can claim

You can claim if you’re a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership and:

• you traded in the tax year 2018 to 2019 and submitted your Self Assessment tax return on or before 23 April 2020 for that year
• you traded in the tax year 2019 to 2020
• you intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020 to 2021
• you carry on a trade which has been adversely affected by coronavirus

Your business could be adversely affected by coronavirus if, for example:

• you’re unable to work because you:
• are shielding
• are self-isolating
• are on sick leave because of coronavirus
• have caring responsibilities because of coronavirus
• you’ve had to scale down or temporarily stop trading because:
• your supply chain has been interrupted
• you have fewer or no customers or clients
• your staff are unable to come in to work

You should not claim the grant if you’re above the state aid limits or operating a trade through a trust.

To work out your eligibility we will first look at your 2018 to 2019 Self Assessment tax return. Your trading profits must be no more than £50,000 and at least equal to your non-trading income.


Comment: Best of luck to all applying, and stay safe folks.

Update: Having made an application myself this morning, I qualified and will receive a payment within the next 6 days, which will certainly help out in these weird times. Bear in mind that whilst it is a grant which does not require to be repaid, it is taxable, will also be included for your National Insurance calculation. 

Although the UK Gov site tells you to have your UTR and National Insurance number to hand, you might also want to have your UK passport handy too as a means of identification, as it is one of the options presented. The process itsef was very quick, taking just a couple of minutes to complete.

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts June 8th - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My next book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is out shortly, also available are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.