SEISS - Further guidance issued on second grant

Further to my article a couple of weeks ago, further guidance has been released in relation to the second and final SEISS grant which will be available to claim in August. The aim of the second grant is to further assist those self employed individuals who are still adversely affected by Coronavirus. The second SEISS grant’s criteria for initial eligibility will be the same as the first one, so unfortunately it will only be potentially available to those who met the financial criteria of the first grant. It has not been extended to include those who commenced trading on or after 6 April 2019. Clarification has now been given as to the dates that someone needs to be “adversely affected” by Coronavirus in order to claim each grant. These have been subsequently changed since the first grant was announced and now the first grant will be available to those who were adversely affected before 13 July 2020 and the second SEISS grant will only be available to those who were adversely affected on or after 14 July 2020. Both grants are independent of each other so you do not have to have claimed one to be able to claim the other. Both grants will still be based on a nominal 3 months of average trading profits and the grant will be paid in full as long as you satisfy the criteria on the specified dates. There is no restriction for the length of time you are adversely affected or the financial loss suffered. The second SEISS grant however, will be paid at 70% of the average trading profits for 3 months and capped at £6,570, whereas the first grant is for 80% with a cap at £7,500. If you claimed the first SEISS grant and are eligible to claim for the second one, you can simply take the amount of grant you received an multiply it by 87.5% to calculate how much you will be entitled to for the second grant. You should however keep evidence to demonstrate how you were adversely affected along with the relevant dates, in case it is ever queried in the future. HMRC state that “adversely affected” can include the following –

• The business owner is unable to work because they: - are shielding, - are self-isolating, - are on sick leave because of coronavirus, or - have caring responsibilities because of coronavirus.
• The business has had to scale down or temporarily stop trading because: - the supply chain has been interrupted, - there are fewer or no customers or clients, or - staff are unable to come in to work.

This is not an exhaustive list and for example business owners who have incurred additional costs to comply with physical distancing requirements may still be deemed adversely affect, as would have suffered a reduction in profits as a result of Coronavirus. As with the first SEISS grant, you are still able to continue to trade where possible without jeopardising your claim, as long as you are still adversely affected by Coronavirus on the specified dates for example by having to work at limited capacity due to social distancing requirements. As a reminder, if you are eligible and haven’t yet applied for the first grant, please ensure you submit your claim before the closing date of 13 July 2020. Applications for the second SEISS grant will be able to be made from August and HMRC are expected to release details of the exact dates in due course. If you do have any queries, then please do not hesitate to get in touch with your usual point of contact at Albert Goodman who will be able to assist you.