Family Early Help
Government Advice for Self Employed People Getting Less or No Work
This is a link to the Government pages on financial support for people who are getting less or no work during COVID:
Support for Self Employed People During Second Lockdown
Self-employed workers will get two more grants from the Governments Self Employed Income Support Scheme during the second lockdown.
The new enhanced scheme will open for applications from the end of November, and cover 80% of trading profits for that month up to a maximum of £5,160.
The Government had originally planned to cover 20% of average monthly profits from November 2020 to January 2021, up to a maximum of £1,875, but on 22 October decided to double the support and then on 1 November increased it to 80% as part of the second lockdown arrangements.
There will be a fourth grant covering a percentage of average income spanning February to April 2021, but it’s not yet known how much this will cover or when the deadline for applying will be.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/self-employment-income-support-scheme-grant-extension/self-employment-income-support-scheme-grant-extension#how-to-claim
and there is a helpful summary from Money Saving Expert here:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/04/self-employed-help-coronavirus/
COVID Self Employment Support Scheme Extended
On 24 September 2020, the Government announced that the support scheme for self employed people will be extended as part of the Winter Economy Plan.
- A new grant will be available for self-employed people to cover the period from November 2020 to January 2021
- If you’re eligible, the government will pay 20% of your average monthly profits, up to a maximum total of £1,875
A second grant will run from February to April 2021 although the percentages may differ.
To be eligible you must:
- earn more than half your income from self-employment
- have submitted a tax return for 2018/19
- have an average trading profit of less than £50,000 for the tax years 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19, or if you haven’t been trading for all those years a trading profit of less than £50,000 for 2018/19.
Details of when you’ll be able to apply for the grant will be released soon.
Self-Assessment Tax Deferral
The government will give the self-employed and other taxpayers more time to pay taxes due in January 2021, building on the Self-Assessment deferral in July 2020. Taxpayers with up to £30,000 of Self-Assessment liabilities due will be able to use HMRC’s self-service Time to Pay facility to pay over an additional 12 months. This means that Self-Assessment liabilities due in July 2020 will not need to be paid in full until January 2022.
VAT Payment Deferral
Any business that has deferred its VAT payment to March 2021 because of COVID can now spread that over 11 smaller interest-free payments during the financial year 2021/22 instead of paying it as a lump sum in March 2021.
Bounce Back Loans
Small businesses who took out a Bounce Back loan to help with cashflow will see their repayment plan replaced by the new Pay to Grow scheme.
It means that loan lengths will be increased from six years to ten, cutting monthly repayment amounts by nearly half.
Interest-free periods of up to six months will be available as well as payment holidays.
More information here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme
and here
Financial Support for People Who Are Self Isolating
On 27 August 2020, the Government announced that people on low incomes who need to self-isolate and are unable to work from home in areas with high incidence of COVID-19 will benefit from a new payment scheme. From early October, Camden now has its own scheme for this and you can find details here
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Financial Relief for Self Employed People
The government is offering some financial relief for people who are self-employed info here:
Please also see 'Universal Credit and Benefits' section if a self-employed person wishes to sign up for UC
Martin Lewis from Money Saving Expert has created a number of helpful short videos explaining key aspects of the relief being offered to people who are self employed during COVID. Here is a link to his twitter page and his website:
https://twitter.com/MartinSLewis/status/1244955435720900609?s=19
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/03/coronavirus-self-employed-and-employment-help/
This also from Camden's website:
Universal Credit: if you’re not claiming benefits at the moment and you’re now unable to work or your income has dropped, as long as you fit the criteria, you can apply for Universal Credit or Employment Support Allowance. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) manages this so you will need to call them on 0800 328 5644 or go to gov.uk to apply. You do not need to go to the job centre and you can receive an advance payment from DWP.