Originally written by Stephanie Spicer on Small Business
The government has re-opened the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) allowing claimants to apply for a government grant of up to £6,750. The scheme was established to help those self employed workers whose income was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
To date over 2.7 million people have benefitted from the scheme, receiving £7.8bn. For the first grant, self-employed individuals in Scotland have made 155,000 claims totalling £449m; in Wales 108,000 claims for £289m have been made and in Northern Ireland 76,000 claims for £216m have been submitted. In England, 2.2 million claims were made totalling £6.4bn.
The second stage of the scheme means that those eligible will now be able to receive a second and final grant worth 70% of their average monthly trading profits, with the money set to land in their bank accounts within six working days of making a claim. Individuals must earn at least half of their income from self- employment and annual trading profits must not exceed £50,000.
Anyone whose self-employed business has been adversely affected by coronavirus since 14 July is eligible for the scheme.
Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer said: “Our self-employment income support scheme has already helped