Coronavirus – Self Employed Income Support Update for Writers
The Government has announced two grants for the self employed. The first grant covers the period to 13 July 2020 and the second grant for 3 months from 14 July 2020.
Here’s some things you need to be aware of now:
- Claims for the first grant need to be made by 13 July 2020 or you’re too late
- You can claim online here
- You can’t claim for the second grant yet. It’s likely to be August before that’s available.
- If you’ve used the creative averaging scheme then you’ll need to make an adjustment to your figures to remove the effect of the averaging
- You need to be eligible – this is a useful tool to check https://www.rossmartin.co.uk/covid-19/4673-coronavirus-self-employment-income-support-tool
- You need to have been ‘adversely affected’ by coronavirus. HMRC give some examples here. We are expecting the Government to seek to reclaim as much as possible once things return to normal so you should expect to have to prove your eligibility at some point in the future – perhaps long after you’ve had (and spent) the grant.
- The Government have recognised that new parents last year may have had reduced earnings because they took time off. These reduced earnings will unfairly affect the amount of the claim now. More details are to be released so keep a look out if you’re affected.
- Remember that directors of limited companies are not eligible for this grant and should look at the furlough scheme.
If you’re struggling with understanding your eligibility then please feel free to email us.
And whilst you’re here – don’t forget some of our other tax guides – tax deductions for writers and Should a writer set up a limited company
