WAGE SUPPORT

Who is eligible for the fourth self-employed grant?

MILLIONS of Brits who work for themselves can apply for a fourth round of Covid support cash.

The self-employment income support scheme (SEISS), which is worth up to £7,500, covers lost earnings through February, March and April as a result of coronavirus.

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A fourth round of the SEISS was confirmed in the Budget - and a fifth will followCredit: Alamy

Today is the last day for self-employed people to apply for the help.

Brits who are eligible for the support should have already been contacted by HMRC.

Eligibility depends on your latest tax return and contact will be made either by email, letter or within the online service, HMRC has said.

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Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed the full details of the scheme's latest instalment as part of his March Budget - including who is eligible to apply.

What help is available?

THE government has introduced the following measures to help self-employed workers and businesses during the coronavirus outbreak.

  • Income-tax deferrals: Self-assessment income tax payments, that were due in July, can be deferred to the end of January next year.
  • Coronavirus business interruption loan scheme: SMEs can get loans and overdrafts of up to £5 million for up to six years and the government with guarantee up to 80 per of these loans.
  • Grants of up to £10,000: Small firms can get grants of up to £10,000 to help with ongoing business costs.
  • VAT payments: VAT payments can be deferred for three months.
  • Tax bill help: SMEs that cannot afford their tax bills can ask HMRC for a “time to pay” arrangement so any debt collection is suspended.
  • Business rates holiday: A 12-month business rates holiday has been introduced for many businesses.

The Chancellor also confirmed that there will be a fifth and final grant available covering lost income for June, July and August.

Both the fourth and fifth grants are available for 600,000 newly self-employed workers as long as they submitted a tax return for the 2019/20 tax year by midnight on March 2, 2021

Here's everything you need to know about the fourth SEISS grant, including who can apply and how to claim.

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Other criteria that you have to to meet includes:

  • You must have been earning more than half of your total income from self-employment.
  • Your trading profit must have been less than £50,000 a year.

You don't need to have applied for an earlier grant to get the fourth grant.

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When do applications close?

Claims for the fourth grant worth up to £7,500 opened in late April.

There was no official launch date for the scheme with the government trying to stagger people's applications.

Instead, HMRC should have contacted those who are eligible by email, letter or within the online service to give them an exact date of when they can apply.

But claims must be made by June 1.

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MoneySavingExpert Martin Lewis criticised Mr Sunak for not making the claim date earlier.

But the Government said it needed more time because hundreds of thousands more people are now eligible for the help.

Unlike previous grants, people who became self-employed in 2019-20 have been able to make a claim through SEISS as long as they filed a tax return by March 2.

Applications for the fourth grant opened later compared to previous support.

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For example, the third SEISS grant covered November, December and January with applications opening in November.

Previous grants have also had a longer time-frame for making a claim.

Fourth grant applicants will have had roughly just over one month to claim, based on the late-April opening and June 1 deadline.

The third grant opened for applications on November 30 last year with a deadline of January 29 this year - a two month window for making a claim.

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