Taxation of SEISS grants

Since it was first announced on 26 March 2020 as part of the government’s package of Covid-19 relief measures the self-employed income support scheme (SEISS) has proved to be very popular. As at 18 October more than 4.9 million claims had been made with a total value of £13.5bn.

While these grants have provided welcome relief to many of those receiving them the rules which dictate how they are taxed can throw up some surprises. We will look at the first and second round of SEISS grants – for which applications have now closed. Although it was announced on 24 September that the SEISS would be extended – with a third and fourth round of grants to be paid out – and further details have been announced by the chancellor since (most recently on 5 November) it is not yet clear when these later grants will be taxed....