On Sunday 31 May the chancellor announced plans to extend the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) for those people whose trade has been adversely affected by COVID-19 (coronavirus). 

Eligible self-employed people will be able to claim a second and final SEISS grant in August; this will be a taxable grant worth 70% of their average monthly trading profits for three months, paid out in a single installment and capped at £6,570 in total.

Claims for the first SEISS grant must be made no later than 13 July. The first SEISS grant is a taxable grant of 80% of average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single installment covering 3 months’ worth of profits, and capped at £7,500 in total. So far, there have been over 2.3 million claims worth £6.8 billion.

The eligibility criteria for the second grant will be the same as for the first grant. You do not need to have claimed the first grant to be eligible for the second as the scheme will be available to those more recently adversely affected by the coronavirus and the resulting restrictions.

All claims for SEISS grants must be made by the eligible individual themselves. More information about the second SEISS grant will be available on GOV.UK on 12 June. 

In the meantime, if you are self-employed or know someone who is and may benefit from the scheme, please encourage them to make a claim before 13 July.