Incorrect claim for self-employed support

The taxpayer was self-employed until August 2018 when he began working through a company limited by guarantee. This was shown in his tax returns for 2018-19. In May 2020 HMRC wrote to him telling him that he might be eligible for the coronavirus self-employed income support scheme (SEISS). It was agreed that when the taxpayer used GOV.UK the first relevant screen he encountered stated in large block capital letters ‘YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO MAKE A CLAIM’ followed by a button saying ‘continue’. He made two claims for SEISS. In May 2020 his co-director made coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS) claims in relation to her work for the company. In June two more CJRS claims were made – this time for the taxpayer as well as his co-director.

In October 2020 HMRC told the taxpayer that because he had stopped being self-employed in 2018 he...