Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SISS)

Readers who need financial support at an earlier date can still apply for Universal Credits as an interim measure.

Who can claim under SISS?

To qualify for a payment under SISS you will need to be a self-employed individual or a member of a trading partnership. You will also need to comply with the following:

• have submitted your Self-Assessment tax return for the tax year 2018-19
• traded in the tax year 2019-20
• are trading when you apply, or would be except for Coronavirus
• intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020-21
• have lost trading profits due to Coronavirus

You will need to confirm to HMRC that your business has been adversely affected by Coronavirus. HMRC will use a risk based approach to compliance.

Finally, your trading profits must also be no more than £50,000 and more than half of your total income for either:

• the tax year 2018-19
• the average of the tax years 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19.

How to claim

HMRC will aim to contact you by mid May 2020 if you are eligible for the scheme and invite you to claim using the GOV.UK online service. If you are unable to claim online an alternative way to claim will be available.

The online registration page will also be updated with the steps you can take to make it easier to claim using the GOV.UK online service.

You do not need to contact HMRC, as this will only delay the work being undertaken to introduce the scheme.