SEISS, or the Self-employment Income Support Scheme is a payment that the UK Government will send to all eligible members of the self-employed workforce who have been affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

Who qualifies for the scheme:

There have been two iterations of the scheme. The first was announced in March 2020 and the second was announced in October 2020 to launch in November. To be eligible for the second scheme, you must have been eligible for the first one. But you don’t have to have claimed it.

Here is the criteria:

• Self-employed making under £50,000 in profits from self-employment
• Self-employed who earn over half of their income from self-employment 
• HMRC will look at either the average of the last three tax years or at the 2018/19 Self Assessment when figuring out eligibility
• You need to have filed your 2018/19 Self Assessment before 23 April 2020

How much can I get from SEISS?

March Scheme

• Grant #1 
  • Covered 80% of your self-employment profits for three months 
  • A maximum of £2,500 (so a lump sum of up to £7,500)
  • Apply before 13th July 2020
• Grant #2 
  • Covered 70% of your self-employment profits, also for three months
  • A maximum lump sum of £6,570
  • Apply before August 2020

October Scheme

• Grant #1
  • Covered 80% of your self-employment profits for three months 
  • A maximum of £7,500 
  • Apply before 19th October 2020
•  Grant #2: 
  • Covers February to April 2021
  • More details to follow

In total you can get up to £21,570 to help you get through this crisis.

Other things to keep in mind:

• You don’t need to pay this money back
• You’ll have to pay Income Tax and National Insurance, just as you would on any other self-employment income (you’ll declare this grant on your next Self Assessment tax return

Read more details on the HMRC website.