How will the government help freelancers? The ANNA guide.
The Coronavirus pandemic has made life very difficult for freelancers and sole traders – but the government is stepping in with the Coronavirus (Covid-19) Self-employment Income Support Scheme to help you out. ANNA is showing you what’s on offer, and what you need to do next.
I’m a freelancer! What do I need to do?
First things first – right now you don’t have to do anything. You can’t apply yet, but HMRC will get in touch with you if you’re eligible and invite you to apply online.
Once HMRC have received your claim (and if you’re eligible for the grant) they’ll tell you how much you’ll get and provide payment details.
Ok. What help do I get?
The scheme lets you claim a taxable grant worth 80% of your average trading profits – up to £2500 a month, for the next three months, although the scheme may be extended.
Am I eligible?
You’ll be eligible if you tick all these boxes:
- You’re self-employed or a member of a partnership.
- You’ve filed your Tax Self-Assessment tax return for 2018-19. If you haven’t submitted your 2018-19 tax return you need to do it by 23 April 2020.
- You need to have traded in 2019-20 and intend to keep trading in 2020-21. You also need to be trading when you apply, or show you would be trading except for Covid-19.
- You’ve lost profits due to Covid-19.
Keeping you up-to-date
Because these are such unpredictable times, the government is creating and revising new schemes all the time. So if anything we’ve written about changes, or new measures come in, we’ll update this guide to make sure you’re all clued up
Was this article helpful?
Written by
Senior content writer, ANNA
Clair is a relationship management expert. She has overseen onshore and offshore contact centres, been a mortgage adviser, and was previously a Senior Business Partner at Barclays Customer Experience. At ANNA, Clair is dedicated to building the best support team in the UK. Her leadership and sense of humour ensure the human touch is central to ANNA’s DNA.
