Deadline looms for freelances’ Covid-19 aid grant
The deadline to claim for the fifth government Covid-19 aid grant for freelances, the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, is Thursday 30 September.
The fifth grant is different from previous grants and in most cases, when making your claim you will need to give HM Revenue & Customs details of your business turnover. You can find out if you are eligible on the government website.
The government has also announced that it is delaying its “making tax digital” programme which was scheduled to make 4.3m self-employed people and small businesses keep digital records and report their income to HM Revenue & Customs every quarter rather than annually from April 2023. The new measures will now take effect in April 2024.
Andy Smith, NUJ national organiser, said:
“Any freelance member whose income between May and September has been affected by COVID-19 has only until Thursday 30 September to apply for the fifth SEISS grant”
“The delay to implementing the making tax digital for income tax self- assessment is welcome and necessary. Awareness generally among the self-employed community about this change is much lower than it needs to be, and there is currently only very limited choice in software that is both HMRC-compatible and appropriate for sole traders.”