Source · Select Committees · Petitions Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Accepted in Part
Paragraph: 37
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme uses three years of tax returns to assess the average...
Recommendation
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme uses three years of tax returns to assess the average income of claimants. Claimants who have undertaken periods of parental leave in these years, will not receive support at a level representative of their usual earnings. We recommend that the Government amend the terms of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme to take into account periods of maternity and parental leave, to avoid discriminating against new parents.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government has amended the SEISS scheme to make previously ineligible self-employed parents, whose 2018/19 tax returns were affected by new childcare, eligible for the scheme. However, it clarifies that the grant calculation for those already eligible is unaffected.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
37
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted in Part
The Government has made changes to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) which help support new parents who are self-employed. These changes benefit self-employed parents who were previously ineligible for SEISS because they had not submitted a tax return for 2018/2019, or because their trading profits in 2018/19 were less than their other non-trading income, because they were taking time off work from their business to care for their new-born or newly adopted child. Individuals in this position will be able to claim through SEISS if they meet the other eligibility criteria. The amendment does not affect the grant calculation for those individuals who submitted a 2018/19 return and were already eligible for SEISS. The impact of Covid-19 on maternity and parental leave: Government Response 9 Further guidance on the updated eligibility criteria and claiming through SEISS is available on the Gov.UK website at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-different-circumstances- affect-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme-if-having-a-new-child-affected-the- trading-profits-you-reported-for-the-tax-year-2018-to-2019 Those affected can now ask HMRC to verify that their new child either affected their trading profits or total income that they reported for the tax year 2018 to 2019 or meant they did not submit a Self Assessment tax return for the tax year 2018 to 2019 at: https:// www.gov.uk/guidance/ask-hmrc-to-verify-you-had-a-new-child-which-affected-your- eligibility-for-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme
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