UK Pandemic Grants for the Self-Employed
By: Karen Madej
Tags: Self Employed, Life Lessons, Taxes, Covid 19, Freelancers

UK Pandemic Grants for the Self-Employed

Only apply to businesses. Freelancers can have welfare benefits.

I really didn’t expect anything from the UK. My past experience of benefits and the indignity of seeking them was humiliating and still is.

My Polish step mum recommended to me at the age of 18 that I should put my name down on the council housing list. Snob that I was, I was working and earning good money, why did I need a reduced rent house from the government? I never did sign up. Until this year.

A couple of decades of full-time permanent employment eliminated any need for governmental assistance. I have paid twenty-eight years of National Insurance.

I was self-employed in the Czech Republic from September 2016 to end February 2019.

I was solely self-employed in the UK from March 2019 to March 2020.

When France was locked down, my English language Coaching work stopped. During the annual low season of January to March, I used most of my savings.

I already knew from a meeting last year at JobCentre Plus that as an established (in the Czech Republic) self-employed person I was not eligible for any assistance while I waited for work to flood in in April 2019. Thus I wasn’t expecting any assistance this year when the pandemic hit the UK.

Initially, the self-employed were not eligible for any benefits. So, I applied for, and got, an agency job posted on Facebook.

Hearing that the self-employed would be treated the same as employees where Statutory Sick Pay was concerned was welcome news, which I had no need for as I was now employed.

I completed a self-isolation sick note on March 23rd. Two days after receiving training in a room with forty other people for the new job.

When I read the following from the Money Saving Expert I thought there was a chance.

The Self-employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) — the government grant to self-employed individuals whose businesses have been adversely affected by coronavirus — opened for applications on Wednesday 13 May. By midnight on Sunday 17 May, there had already been 2 million claims worth £6.1 billion. ~MSE

I went to the website to see if I qualified for the grant from England. I didn’t.

Grants are based on your profits over three tax years — based on an average of the tax returns for 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19. ~Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

However, after receiving the ‘Are You Eligible for Self-Employed Income Support Scheme?’ email from Business Gateway Fife, I thought I would check out the rules.

To be eligible you must meet all of the criteria below Became self-employed on/after 6th April 2019 (did not submit a tax return including income from self-employment for 2018–19)​ ~ Business Gateway Fife

Who should be eligible

The self-employed under the Act on pension insurance, i.e., simply all who are doing business on their own, based on a trade licence or, e.g. perform a liberal profession (musicians, writers, etc.), are doing business in agriculture or on the grounds of other Acts of law (medical doctors, attorneys at law, etc.).

(musicians, writers, etc.), (medical doctors, attorneys at law, etc.). The self-employment has to be the main activity.

The self-employment can be a side activity of a specified circle of people (beneficiaries of disability or old-age pension, parental allowance, etc.).

Yes, to all the above. So I applied for the grant.

A few weeks later I received a phone call from a very kind man who informed me I didn’t qualify as I had submitted a SA for 2018–2019.

HMRC told me I had to submit a self-assessment for 2018-19 despite it only being for £70. After I submitted, I received a letter to say they agreed and withdrew the Notice to complete a tax return for 2018–2019.

Apparently, the Notice wasn’t enough to qualify me for a grant. Apparently, registering promptly on arrival in my new country a few weeks before the next tax year, cost me a grant.

I love the rules. I love to do the right thing. I am always rewarded for doing the right thing.