---
title: "Are you eligible for the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant?"
description: "As Britain returns to lockdown, it’s a tough time for the self-employed but the good news is that the government has announced the extension of the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). The grant will cover the period from 1 November to 31 January 2021."
url: "https://anna.money/blog/guides/self-employment-income-support-scheme-eligibility/"
datePublished: "2021-01-08T12:00:00Z"
dateModified: "2024-06-20T12:00:00Z"
authors: []
reviewers: []
publisher: "ANNA Money"
publisherUrl: "https://anna.money/"
category: "Guides"
tags: []
readTimeMinutes: 3
---

# Are you eligible for the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant?

As Britain returns to lockdown, it’s a tough time for the self-employed but the good news is that the government has announced the extension of the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). The grant will cover the period from 1 November to 31 January 2021.

## How does SEISS claim work?

SEISS grants will offer 80% of your average trading profits, capped at £7,500 overall.

To be eligible for the grant:

- You must declare that your business has been impacted by **reduced demand** because of Covid-19 in the qualifying period. This is a little different from previous grant schemes and means you **cannot** claim if you’re unable to work because you were self-isolating or shielding. Additional expenses such as PPE are also excluded from this grant.
- You must have filled in a tax return for 2018/19. This means you must have been self-employed prior to April 2019. The last possible date to file a 2018/19 tax return was 23 April 2020. If you only had a few months self-employment on your 2018/19 tax return this will count as your income for the whole year – HMRC will not pay you pro rata based on a handful of months.
- You must earn more than 50% of your income from self-employment. To verify this HMRC will check your 2018/19 tax return first. If you’re not eligible they will average your prior three years income to see if you qualify on that basis.
- Your average trading profits must be less than £50,000 a year. If your profit in 2018/19 exceeded £50,000 HMRC will average the previous three years to see if the average is below £50,000.
- You must be actively trading and intend to continue trading

### **Other things worth knowing**

- You can keep working if you have applied for the grant.
- You don’t need to have previously applied for the other SEISS schemes to be eligible
- You can still apply for Universal Credit but the SEISS counts as income and will decrease the amount of Universal Credit you receive
- SEISS can be claimed in addition to local lockdown payments
- Sadly, if you made a losses in 2018/19 and the previous three years you will get nothing

## **How to claim SEISS grant?**

SEISS grant applications opened on 30 November. To apply visit [https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme).

You will need the following information to apply:

- Your [unique taxpayer reference](https://anna.money/blog/guides/unique-taxpayer-reference-utr-number/)
- Your National Insurance number
- Government Gateway user ID and password
- UK Bank details

You must claim for yourself. A claim submitted by a tax agent or financial adviser will trigger a fraud alert.

**You must make your claim on or before 29 January 2021.**

### **Grants for businesses in England that have been forced to close during lockdown**

These grants are available from 1 November and as soon as a business is forced to close for at least three weeks

Businesses with a rateable value of or below £15,000 can claim £1,300 per month

Businesses with a rateable value between £15, 001 and £51,000 can claim £2,000 per month

Businesses with a rateable value exceeding £51,001 can claim £3,000 per month

These grants are administered by local authorities - you’ll need to contact them to apply.

- These grants cannot be paid on a weekly equivalent
- The grant is per property e.g. two restaurants closed equals two payments
- The grant is taxable income

### **Grants for businesses in Wales that have been forced to close during lockdown**

Businesses that have to close during the “fire-break” that started on 23 October and ends on 9 November can claim

- £1,000 for businesses covered by small business rates relief
- £5,000 for small and medium sized retail, hospitality and leisure businesses forced to close