No eligibility because of lack of continuous self-employment

The taxpayer was a self-employed sign writer trading as Sign Directory. In October 2019 he incorporated his business as a community interest company which was liable to corporation tax.

In 2020 the taxpayer applied for and received support payments through the self-employed income support scheme. In June 2021 HMRC asked the taxpayer to confirm his trading status for eligibility for the grants. This was because his tax returns for 2018-19 and 2019-20 showed he had ceased self-employment on 5 April 2019. He said he did not understand the difference between a sole trader and a community interest company and after doing some research concluded that the self-employed support was the one for which he was eligible. Further he was in debt and therefore unable to afford to check with his accountant.

HMRC concluded that he was not eligible for the self-employed income support scheme and issued...