LEADING ACCOUNTANT CALLS FOR EXTENSION OF SELF-EMPLOYMENT COVID SUPPORT TO THOSE WHO STARTED TRADING AFTER MARCH 2019
A leading Norfolk accountant is lobbying the Treasury to extend the financial help for self-employed people to those who started trading after March 2019 – saying that these ae the very businesses which will help lead the eastern region towards recovery once the pandemic is over.
James Shipp, partner at Lovewell Blake, has written to the Treasury, following discussions with a local MP, to demand that these businesses are not just made eligible for future tranches of help, but that they should receive retrospective support as well.
“When the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme was first introduced last year, HMRC stipulated that to be eligible, traders needed to have demonstrated that they had been trading in the 2018/19 tax year via their tax return,” said Mr Shipp.
“Now, nearly a year later, those who started trading after March 2019 will be submitting 2019/20 tax returns, and so can demonstrate that their claims are bona fide.
“So far these people have received no help at all. If they have taken out Bounce Back Loans then they will have to start repaying these shortly; and they may be facing higher mortgage payments if they were forced to take a mortgage payment holiday to survive.
“Now that 2019/20 tax returns are being submitted, a retrospective grant – perhaps with a clawback mechanism for those attempting to exploit the scheme – should be considered. The very minimum that should happen is that self-employed people who started trading after March 2019 should be included in the third and fourth tranches of support, which cover the current lockdown.
“I’m not talking about small company directors, who also suffered due to gaps in the furlough scheme, but sole traders and members of small partnerships who pay their income tax and Class 2 and 4 National Insurance contributions, but who have received no support from government to assist them where they have been affected by Covid.
“Many of these small businesses will be the drivers of economic recovery after the pandemic. It is crucial that they are supported so that they are still around to help the region’s economic fightback in the coming months and years.”
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme is open to self-employed individuals or members of partnerships who have traded in both 2018/19 and 2019/20, and who have been impacted by reduced demand due to coronavirus, or who have been temporarily unable to trade at all.
The third tranche of support covers the period 1st November 2020 to 29th January 2021, and consists of a payment worth 80 per cent of average quarterly trading profits, with a £7,500 cap. Applications for the third tranche of support close on 29th January. More details at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme.