Chancellor Rishi Sunak set out plans for 80% wage subsidies for staff kept on by employers last week and the PM said he wants similar protection for freelancers. However, he stated there was “particular difficulties” for freelancers who are not on Pay As You Earn (PAYE) schemes, but that he wanted to achieve “parity of support” across the workforce.
With 5.2 million self-employed workers in the UK, it was only a matter of time before the chancellor put a plan in place to support the self – employed.
Following the Chancellors statement, it has now been confirmed that self-employed and freelance workers will be entitled to a self-employed income support scheme. The government will pay self-employed people effected by the coronavirus a taxable grant at 80% of their average monthly earnings over the last three years up to £2,500 per month. This scheme will be available to all self-employed in the UK for at least the next three months and extended for longer if necessary.
This is the same grant as for furlough employees unlike any other country.
The Chancellor has taken steps to ensure the scheme is fair and provides targeted support for those most in need. The scheme will be open to anyone with trading profits of up to £50,000 to ensure the genuine self-employed benefit and to minimise fraud anyone wishing to claim must have a tax return for 2019.
95% of self-employed will benefit from this scheme and HMRC are working on this urgently and expect people to be able to access the scheme from the beginning of June.
If you are eligible, HMRC will contact you directly and ask you to fill in a simple online form then pay the grant straight into your bank account.
Anyone who missed the deadline for their tax return have been given 4 weeks from today to file this to ensure they do not miss out on the self-employed income support scheme.
Many will welcome this announcement and we will continue to share updates on any information relevant to self-employed and PAYE workforces.
If you require any additional support or information on the latest developments, please get in touch with us today!
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