Positive Experiences of the Self Employment Income Support Scheme

The government Self Employment Income Support Scheme (‘SEISS’) was opened on 13th May and from the feedback we’ve received has been well received by our clients. An overview of the details of the scheme can be found here, but response so far is very positive.

The claims are made through the HMRC website which has meant that claimants require a Government Gateway account and a number of taxpayers have not previously set these up. Creating the Government Gateway account has proved to be a very quick process, which can be completed in minutes.

The eligibility checker again requires some basic taxpayer information, Unique Taxpayer Reference, National Insurance Number, Date of Birth etc. and again, takes minutes to complete, with an instant response as to the taxpayer’s eligibility.
There is the ability to ask HMRC to review the eligibility result should you believe the conclusion to be incorrect.

Once eligibility is confirmed, the taxpayer is presented with a date from which they can make their claim, and is required to log back in to make the claim on or after that date.

The claim itself requires the taxpayer details to be re-confirmed and, subject to declarations being made in respect of their situation, the amount of grant awarded is displayed on-screen. Bank details are then requested and the payment should be made within 6 working days.

Our client experience when making claims has been overwhelmingly positive. They have been surprised by the ease at which these can be made, and the almost instant response giving them some certainty over amounts due.
It looks then that this scheme will be a success – however, at the time of writing it covers three months and a maximum of £7,500. Lockdown has been eased to different extents in different parts of the UK, but there are still some restrictions on people’s ability to provide services. The furlough scheme has been extended for the employed but this scheme has not, and to that end one would presume that this is being given some thought at Government level, but no news as yet. Any updates we do receive will be publicised within the COVID-19 section of our website here.