HMRC has published details of the eligibility criteria for the fourth self-employment income support scheme (SEISS) grant, as announced in the Spring Budget 2021.

The grant will cover the period between February 2021 and April 2021 and will pay 80% of three months' average trading profits, paid in instalments but capped at £7,500.

For the first time, the Chancellor announced that HMRC will take into account tax returns for the tax year 2019/20, but the rest of the eligibility criteria will remain unchanged.

The Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) welcomed the announcement but fears many may still “fall through the cracks”.

Jeremy Coker, president of the ATT, said it should not be assumed that all of the individuals will now qualify for a grant.

He said:

“Those who moved from employment to self-employment part way through tax year 2019/20 may also struggle to meet the requirement of having trading profits which are at least equal to their non-trading income.

“For example, an individual who left a job in December 2019 and then started a self-employed business in January 2020 could easily find that their salary in the tax year exceeded their trading profits, meaning they are not entitled to a SEISS grant.”

There is more information on the fourth grant on the official government website.

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