Tuesday, 05 May 2020

In late March HMRC announced they would be offering support to self-employed businesses by way of a grant of up to 80% of your average earnings over the 2017, 2018 and 2019 tax years. This payment will be a single instalment covering three months and is capped at £7,500. It is also worth noting that this grant will be taxable. 

At the time they estimated it might be mid-June before self-employed businesses received this grant, but the they have now updated their guidance and they seem to be ahead of schedule. This along with the Bounce Back Loans announced this week could be a welcome boost. 

Visit the GOV.UK website here to check your eligibility to claim, using their online tool. You will need your UTR (which will be on any HMRC correspondence including your tax return) and your national insurance number. 

Once completed you will know whether HMRC think you will qualify, and they will estimate a date when you can claim. 

HMRC are not allowing agents to claim on your behalf, so it is really important you set up a government gateway now to allow a claim to be made as soon as possible, once you have taken the eligibility test it will prompt you to either log in or to set up government gateway access.  

Action to take now: 

  • Our People section of the MHA Larking Gowen website. 

    Glenn Matthews  

Gold and Strategic Partners