Who can claim the next SEISS grants? Rishi Sunak extends support

Ali KhanMar 03, 2021Business

Self-employed workers in the UK will get a fourth SEISS grant worth £7,500, the Chancellor confirmed this afternoon. Mr Sunak also unveiled plans for a fifth grant, which will come into force in May, extending all the way until September. Delivering his Budget in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Mr Sunak said: “We will continue to do whatever it takes to support the British people.”

He later added: “An important moment is upon us. A moment of challenge and of change.

“Of difficulties, yes, but of possibilities too. This is a Budget that meets the moment.”

The Chancellor also answered the long-awaited question of when the SEISS grant will open to claimants, which he said will be shortly.

More details on the scheme and how to apply will likely be made available by HMRC in the coming days, but it’s likely applications will open in April.

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Who can claim the next SEISS grants?

The Chancellor addressed claims that too many people had been left out of the previous Self-Employed schemes.

In response, Mr Sunak said the fourth and fifth grants will include 600,000 individuals who weren’t previously eligible to claim.

The new inclusion is due to the Government enabling newly self-employed workers to submit their 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 tax returns as evidence of their earnings.

As is understood, claimants who will be eligible for the next grants are those who have been able to submit their 2020/2021 tax returns.

But as the economy starts reopening, one major change to the job support packages will be more “targeted” financial aid.

People whose turnover has been proven to have dropped by 30 percent or more will continue receiving the full 80 percent from the Treasury.

People whose turnover had fallen by less than 30 percent, however, will get 30 percent of their average trading profits until the scheme comes to a close.

The changes come after Mr Sunak faced an incredible amount of pressure to make the grant more inclusive in the last few months.

Ahead of the Budget, the Chancellor said: “Our Covid support schemes have been a lifeline to millions, protecting jobs and incomes across the UK.

“There is now light at the end of the tunnel with a roadmap for reopening, so it’s only right that we continue to help businesses and individuals through the challenging months ahead – and beyond.”

Steve Taklalsingh, MD at FinTech company Amaiz, said: “The expansion of support for the newly self-employed was desperately needed as far too many were excluded.

“It is right for the Government to extend the support for however long it is needed, but it would have been better to know this earlier as many of our customers have been living in fear from one announcement to another about when the funding would be cut.”

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