Self-employed Income Support Scheme

If you are self-employed and qualify for the Self-employment Income Support Scheme you will receive a cash grant from HMRC based on 80% of profits, up to £2,500 per month. The initial grant will be for the three months, from 1 March through to the end of May 2020, but could be extended for a longer period.


On 30 April 2020, HM Treasury published its Direction to HMRC giving statutory footing for the scheme. The document makes it clear that one of the conditions for using the scheme is that you must have been adversely affected by reason of circumstances arising as a result of coronavirus or coronavirus disease.


The online service is not currently open for applications and HMRC is aiming to contact those eligible to use the scheme by mid-May 2020. Those eligible will be invited to apply online when the portal opens. You will only be able to claim using the GOV.UK online service. The first grants are expected to be paid out at the beginning of June.


If you are self-employed you may be able to make a claim for Universal Credit whilst awaiting the grant. Government figures have suggested that many have already applied for help, but this option remains available if you qualify. When the grants are paid these should be recorded as part of your self-employment income, and it may affect the amount of Universal Credit paid. This will not affect Universal Credit claims for earlier periods.


HMRC will use data on 2018-19 returns already submitted to identify those eligible and will risk assess any late returns filed before 23 April 2020 deadline in the usual way.


To be eligible your self-employed trading profits must be less than £50,000 and more than half of your income must derive from self-employment. This is determined by at least one of the following conditions being true:



  • having trading profits/partnership trading profits in 2018-19 of less than £50,000 and these profits constitute more than half of your total taxable income

  • having average trading profits in 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 of less than £50,000 and these profits constitute more than half of your average taxable income in the same period.

The long-awaited statement from the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak regarding COVID-19 support for the self-employed has been announced. The Chancellor said that the scheme will benefit some 95% of people whose main income source is derived from self-employment.

A list of the scheme features as announced, and published, are as follows:

  • Those that qualify will receive a cash grant from HMRC based on 80% of profits, up to £2,500 per month,
  • The initial grant will be for the three months, from 1 March through to the end of May 2020, but could be extended for a longer period. 

To be eligible, the following conditions will be taken into account:

  • Applicants must be self-employed or a member of a trading partnership,
  • Have lost trading profits due to COVID-19,
  • Have filed a tax return for 2018-19. Late filers will have four weeks from 26 March 2020 to do so,
  • Have traded in 2019-20; be currently trading at the point of application (or would be except for COVID-19) and intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020-21,
  • Have trading profits of less than £50,000 and more than half of total income from self-employment. This can be with reference to at least one of the following conditions:
    • Your trading profits and total income in 2018-19,
    • Your average trading profits and total income across up to the three years between 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19.

There is no need to apply to HMRC as they will contact you if you are eligible. HMRC will use existing data to make this judgement. The initial three-month grant will be paid directly to a nominated bank account in a single lump sum. The grants are expected to be paid out at the beginning of June. The reason for this delay is likely down to three main factors: the 4 weeks additional filing time for late filers, the requirement to set up a complex new system at the same time as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and to reduce the risk of fraud. 

It is assumed that those self-employed who have experienced a significant drop in income due to COVID-19 disruption will need to apply for Universal Credits or Business Continuity Loans to tide them over until June. This will be a challenging time for those affected as the demand for help will place significant challenges on the institutions charged with providing this support.
 
CORONAVIRUS JOB RETENTION SCHEME (CJRS) – update for director shareholders

There has been uncertainty as to the position of director/shareholders claiming under the CJRS as their income is usually taken from their company as a combination of a low salary and dividends. In the news story published following the Chancellor’s statement on 26 March (regarding the Self-employed scheme) is a telling paragraph. It says:
 
Those who pay themselves a salary and dividends through their own company are not covered by the scheme (the Self-employed Scheme) but will be covered for their salary by the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme if they are operating PAYE schemes.

This infers that directors will only be eligible for the CJRS based on their salary alone, and only if there is a proven PAYE record.

Further details of the CJRS are due to be published imminently and will be added to our newsfeed as soon as they are available.

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Case Studies

The Tax Man

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Business Valuation in Distress

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FD in The Cupboard

Our innovative ideas are here to improve your business performance and secure appropriate and cost effective funding

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The Tax Man

The Tax Man

A new client was introduced to us via a recommendation with whom we arranged to meet on a regular basis in order to determine a number of changes that we felt were needed to their business structure. The client was at the time operating as a husband and wife partnership. The business was flourishing and had a number of large contracts with big organisations.

At the start of the process they were still heavily immersed in their day to day operations so we can get a full flavour for their ambitions, aspirations and growth plans. We quickly recognised there were sufficient tax savings which can be achieved by changing the structure from a partnership to a corporate entity. We carried out a business valuation and disposed of the goodwill from the old to the new business. Unfortunately, as often is the case with efficient tax planning, HMRC got involved and disputed our valuation.

An HMRC investigation can be a very stressful time for any client, even for those best prepared. However, our client had minimal input in the HMRC communication as we dealt with this professionally behind the scene. As an added benefit, our client could rest on the security that all work was covered by insurance and therefore all costs and time in dealing with this enquiry were covered by the fee protection policy we had put in place.

The initial approach taken by HMRC was very aggressive and they tried to present an argument that there was no goodwill in the business. We challenged HMRC’s view that the goodwill was worthless. After lengthy correspondence and numerous telephone calls, HMRC agreed 100% with our original valuation, which preserved our original tax saving plan for the client. Tax savings on this case where in the region of £75K at the outset, with ongoing savings of £6,000 per annum. We are pleased to add another happy client to our portfolio.

Business Valuation in Distress

Business Valuation in Distress

Selling a business is never an easy process, but when disputes arise, the need for a reliable third party due diligence process is even greater.

Tearle & Carver have extensive understanding of the requirements for remaining objective when managing a potentially difficult company buyout. In one such case, we were approached by the courts to act as independent accountant for an acrimonious business sale in which one partner was exiting the business and selling shares to the other. Given the circumstances, both sides had totally polar views of what their business was worth.

After arranging an initial meeting with the company, we were thorough in ensuring we completed due diligence, validating the figures in the accounting records, carrying out adjustments where appropriate, and drafting a set of reliable management figures within the framework required by the court.

A draft version of the report detailing our findings and conclusions was submitted to both parties, giving them the opportunity to voice any queries or concerns and ensure all relevant factors had been taken into account.

Through this process, we were able to submit a final report to the courts that was both binding and acceptable to both parties, effectively resolving what could otherwise have been a time consuming and costly process for all sides.

FD in The Cupboard

FD in The Cupboard

For smaller companies, it is often not possible or cost effective to pay for a full-time Financial Director.
Many of our clients therefore make use of Tearle & Carver’s extensive expertise to provide the services of an FD as and when required.

In this case, we were approached by the management team of an organisation looking to acquire the existing business via an MBO (Management buy out). Their business plan had proved ineffective for securing funding, and what they needed was financial expertise from someone with a developed understanding of the company’s internal workings.

Tearle & Carver helped deliver the solution our clients were looking through utilising our bank contacts in order to make the MBO viable, while also building a robust business plan and preparing our client for the rigorous vetting process. To help with cash flow issues, we introduced factoring which led to improved cash flow management.

We advised on the appropriate business valuation and structure, and continued to prepare monthly accounts to track profgress once the management were fully in command of all the information they needed to move their business forward.

In order to best assist these clients through the crucial first year of ownership, we attended board meetings on a regular basis, a service that we continue to provide to date.

With our continually developing understanding of their business, this client is able to remain confident that Tearle & Carver can provide any financial support they may need, now and in the future.