The Chancellor’s recent announcement of the forthcoming 3rd and 4th rounds of SEISS will be of some use – though not as much as rounds 1 and 2 – to many self-employed taxpayers.
It will also be another round of frustration to those who do not qualify for the variety of arbitrary reasons embedded in the legislation.
Everyone who is self-employed in the creative industries (or who mixes freelance and PAYE work for any other reason) should by now be very aware of the importance of allocating earnings correctly, and of asking for help if you are unsure – and such help is, and will always remain, free of charge here at the home of tax for actors.
For actors and stage managers specifically, HMRC has recently updated its guidance – and we’ll be blogging about that here very soon.
One very specific group of people, however, should pay close attention to SEISS and 4 even if they did not receive grants 1 and 2: those who started their self-employment businesses in the tax year 2019/20, or perhaps started in 2018/19 but had very low profits in that year.
AccountingWeb website’s analysis of the announcement of SEISS 3 and 4 says, in our view correctly:
"It is possible that SEISS 4 may be open to self-employed taxpayers who were excluded from the first three SEISS grants as they started their business on or after 6 April 2019. Those taxpayers will have submitted their 2019/20 tax returns by 31 January 2021, so the fourth SEISS grant could be based on average self-employed profits, including those reported for 2019/20."
In one sense this doesn't change anyone's normal course of action, because you have to submit your 2019/20 return by 31 January 2021 anyway. But you will want to make doubly sure that you have allocated all your earnings correctly, especially if there is any doubt about what is employment and what is self-employment. This is not always easy, especially for creatives. We’re always happy to answer questions about this entirely free of charge or obligation.
Call us for free advice on 08000 487626, message us on Instagram @accounting4actors or email hello@accounting4actors.co.uk .
Please visit our accounting for actors website and find out about tax for actors, accounting for creative and cultural industry professionals, actors’ tax returns, and all accounting for creatives.