Self-employed second grant scheme opens

The second self-employment income support scheme is open for eligible people to claim a grant. HMRC has written to self-employed people who may be eligible giving them a date to make a claim and confirming the latest date for claims is 19 October 2020. HMRC confirms that advisers cannot make a claim for a client because it will trigger an alert leading to delays in payment. However they can help clients understand their eligibility and level of entitlement.

The eligibility criteria for the second grant is the same as before. So self-employed individuals who were eligible for the first grant will be eligible for the second one so long as their business has been adversely affected by the coronavirus since 14 July 2020. There is no minimum threshold over which a business’s income costs or activity need to have changed by but HMRC...