Published: March 25th, 2021 in Latest News
On the 3rd March 2021, upon delivering the 2021 budget, Rishi Sunak announced the self-employment income support fourth grant.
Following the first, second and third self-employment income support grant, the fourth grant will continue to support self-employed individuals as the impact of COVID-19 gradually begins to ease.
Considering the most recent tax return, it is believed that a more significant number of self-employed individuals will be able to take advantage of the self-employment income support fourth grant.
To support you, at The Financial Management Centre, we have delved into the self-employment income support fourth grant here.
If you would like to discuss your personal circumstances with us, please call our team today.
Why Has The Government Launched The Fourth Self-Employment Income Support Grant?
Across the United Kingdom, approximately 4.37 million people are self-employed. Representing 14% of the United Kingdom’s workforce, self-employed individuals continue to contribute to the overall economy of the four nations.
Although the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations has seen half of all adults in the UK vaccinated, there is still a long way to go before the nation returns to normality.
As a result, as the pandemic continues to impact the day-to-day lives of many individuals across the country, the fourth Self-Employment Income Support Grant has been launched to ensure that self-employed individuals receive the financial support they need to keep their business afloat.
How Will the Self-Employment Income Support Fourth Grant Be Calculated?
Just as the other self-employment income support grants provided by the Government over the last 12 months have been calculated with tax returns in mind, the fourth grant will too.
HMRC and The Government have confirmed that the fourth self-employment income support grant will provide self-employed individuals with 80% of their average income over three months.
However, just as the third self-employed grant was capped at £7,500, it should be noted that the fourth grant will be too.
Who Is Eligible for The Self-Employment Income Support Fourth Grant?
If you are yet to make a self-employment income support grant, you may wonder whether you are eligible to claim the fourth grant or not.
If this resonates with you, it may be beneficial to know that you can make a claim irrespective of whether you have previously received financial support from the Government via the first, second and third self-employment grant.
However, to be deemed eligible for the grant, HMRC has stated that you must have traded as a self-employed individual in the 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021 tax years. If you have only recently begun to trade or only started to trade after 5th April 2021, you will unfortunately not be able to claim the fourth self-employment income support grant.
In order to be considered eligible for the grant, HMRC has further confirmed that your 2019 to 2020 trading profits must be less than £50,000. If you turned over more than £50,000, you will not be eligible for the fourth self-employment income support grant.
The Government has also outlined that for you to be deemed eligible for the fourth grant, you must be currently trading but have a reduced workload. Alternatively, you must have been trading in the last two years but find yourself unable to do so at present due to the repercussions of the pandemic.
You must also intend to continue to trade throughout the next tax year.
How Do I Make A Claim For The Self-Employment Income Support Fourth Grant?
If you are hoping to claim the self-employment income support fourth grant, HMRC will contact you in due course to invite you to make a claim.
At present, the online claims service remains closed. However, it will open to applications in April.
Once open, you will be able to make your claim until the 31st of May 2021.
Preparing To Make A Claim For The Self-Employment Income Support Fourth Grant
If you are self-employed and have been impacted by the ongoing ramifications of the pandemic, there are many things that you can do in preparation for the claims service opening.
First and foremost, when preparing to claim the fourth self-employment income support grant, you must ensure that you have submitted your tax return for 2019 to 2020.
Secondly, to ensure that you can make a claim as and when the service opens, you must ensure that you have a Unique Taxpayer Reference, National Insurance Number and a Government Gateway ID.
Will There Be Any Support For Self-Employed Individuals In The Future?
Rishi Sunak has announced that there will be a fifth self-employment income support grant. This grant is believed to be the last grant that the Government will provide to self-employed individuals. However, this may well change if the pandemic continues to have disastrous consequences.
The fifth grant will only be available from July 2021 onwards. It should be noted that the total sum of the claim will be entirely dependent on profits made between April 2020 and April 2021.
Although it is believed that the fifth grant will not be as generous as the third and fourth grant, the amount of financial support available later in the year is yet to be confirmed.
We will, of course, provide an update on the fifth self-employment support grant in due course.
Contact The Financial Management Centre Today
Like many other self-employed individuals, if you would like to seek support in preparing your tax returns to ensure that you can make a claim for the fourth self-employment income support grant, please do not hesitate to contact us.
At The Financial Management Centre, our team of accountants can assist you by preparing your tax returns on your behalf. Our team can also submit your self-employment income support grant claim for you.
Likewise, if you would like to gauge whether you will be eligible for the grant, please give us a call. Our team will be able to offer you guidance.
If you would like to discuss our services or seek our advice and guidance regarding the fourth self-employment income support grant, please call us today on 0333 202 7198.
Sources
https://www.statista.com/statistics/318234/united-kingdom-self-employed/#:~:text=There%20are%20approximately%204.37%20million,at%20the%20start%20of%202020.
https://www.ipse.co.uk/policy/research/the-self-employed-landscape/the-self-employed-landscape-report-2019.html#:~:text=The%20solo%20self%2Demployed%20sector,since%20records%20began%20in%201974.&text=In%20fact%2C%20in%202019%20alone,305bn%20to%20the%20UK%20economy.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/half-of-all-adults-in-uk-receive-first-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine
