If you’re self-employed and eligible for the final Self Employed Income Support Scheme grant, HMRC will be in touch with you by the end of July by either email, text message, letter or the online service to let you know what date you are able to make your claim from.

Like the previous four grants, you will be required to confirm that you meet the eligibility criteria when you make your claim (which is the same as the criteria for the 4th SEISS grant), through your Government Gateway.

The fifth and final grant covers the 1st May to 30th September, this is worth three months of your average trading profits.

To be eligible, you must;

  • Have filed a 2019/2020 tax return
  • Have traded in the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 tax years and also intend to continue to trade
  • Believe within reason that there will be a significant reduction in your trading profits from May to September 2021.

The maximum grant is capped at £7,500 (representing three months’ worth of average trading profits), however how much you receive now depends on the severity of your drop in turnover – unlike the previous grants.

Put simply, if your turnover has fallen by 30% or more you’ll be able to claim the maximum 80%. If your turnover has fell by less than 30%, you’ll only be able to claim 30% of three months average trading profits (capped at £2,850).

Newly self-employed who began trading in the 2019/2020 tax year will not be required to provide the previous 2 years turnover information – they will automatically receive 80% of their trading profits.

To see how to claim, see our previous SEISS article here. For advice and support, get in touch with us at enquiries@aitaccountants.co.uk