The government’s Self-Employment Income Support Scheme will be up and running by 13 May 2020 to make appropriate claims.
We at F&C are contacting our clients about this process, and asking them for our support and help, as clients prepare to make a claim.
How can we help at F&C :
We can help our clients by:
- ensuring they are aware they may be eligible
- helping them to find the details they need
- using the online eligibility checker on their behalf (or supporting them to use it themselves)
- talking them through why they may or may not be eligible, drawing on our online guidance or through our daily webinars.
As an agent we won’t be able to make a claim on behalf of our clients. Designing a scheme that enabled agents to apply on behalf of clients would have taken substantially longer to deliver, at a time when speed is the priority.
HMRC have designed the scheme to be as simple as possible for customers to use, and we will calculate the amount a customer is entitled to base on the information HMRC already hold.
How to use the checker
To use the online checker, self-employed individuals will need their Unique Taxpayer Reference Number and their National Insurance Number.
If you are to make your own claim, please access the link below to check if you are eligible, and you can do this now.
https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/self-employment-support/enter-unique-taxpayer-reference
If you are eligible, the quickest way to receive the monies into your bank account is through your personal tax account.
If you do not already have a personal tax account, it would be advisable for you to set this up now.
Please access the link below in order to do this. Once you have set this up, please also add business tax onto that account.
https://www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account
HMRC are aiming to make the payments into bank accounts in six working days of agreeing the claims.
If you do not apply through your personal tax account, you will receive a letter by post from HMRC with instructions as to how to make your claim, but obviously it will take longer to receive your monies.
If they are eligible, they will be given a date, between 13 and 18 May, from which they can apply. This date is assigned randomly to help HMRC manage demand on the service, making sure that everyone who needs to make a claim can do so.
Self-employed individuals will also be asked to provide their Government Gateway credentials (user ID and password) and check that their bank and contact details are up to date. This is important so that HMRC can remind them by email or text message when it’s their turn to make a claim.
If they don’t have Government Gateway credentials, they can set those up simply if they follow our guidance and use the SEISS eligibility checker.
There will be no requirement for customers to wait for pins or codes through the post.
We would encourage our clients / self-employed individuals to use the SEISS eligibility checker and get Government Gateway credentials now if they don’t already have them. This will make applying for the grant quicker and easier when it is their time to apply.
The application process
When the application process goes live on 13 May, We at F&C can continue to support our clients although we cannot complete the claim on their behalf.
HMRC are aiming to make the payments into bank accounts in six working days of agreeing the claims.
The application process will show how HMRC has calculated the grant client/ Self-employed individuals are due to receive. It is advised if you are in any doubt please share this calculation with us.
If you wish to seek a review of this calculation, we can do so on behalf of our client. It’s important to note that the checker has an extremely high accuracy rate as we use the data client has previously provided us with.
If you still wish to request a review, HMRC will look at the case from 18 May and will explain their eligibility by the end of May.
Please be assured, once again, that we are only a phone call away, and do not hesitate to contact us at 0161 476 7500 should you require any information/assistance.
