It’s a busy autumn at the home of tax returns for actors and for the next two weeks the focus is
definitely on SEISS Round 5, and helping you avoid the traps which HMRC have kindly set you on your 2020/21 tax return, especially in relation to COVID-19 support payments.
SEISS Round 5
Absolute deadline of 30 September – attend to this now, because the calculations required are more complicated than in earlier rounds and no late submissions will be allowed
If you are a creative industry professional and you qualified for any of the earlier rounds, it will be very unusual for you not to qualify for this round too. Don’t assume that you don’t qualify without letting us check for you
Previous SEISS grants and other Covid support eg local council grants, grants from charities – these are NOT included in your turnover calculation for SEISS 5 – ignore them
Your 2020/21 tax return and Covid-19 support
If you are confused about what to put down where – you’re in good company. It’s not you, it’s HMRC. There are armies of accountants out there who haven’t got their heads round this yet, so if you do your own return, don’t worry if you have questions – so do they
If you applied for SEISS 5, your Box 9 turnover figure on page SES1 must match the figure you gave for SEISS 5 (unless you are one of the 7% of people with an unusual year-end date)
Again, the Box 9 turnover figure does NOT include previous SEISS or other Covid support – put SEISS in its own box, other Covid support in box 10, and ignore charitable grants such as Actors or Musicians Benevolent Funds – except for: -
- our old friends the Arts Council England Emergency Response Fund grant, and the Creative Scotland hardship fund grant. The taxable status of these two grants is still unclear. We recommend including them in Box 9 for the time being, but adding an “additional info” note to your return on page 7 to state that you have included them. If their status is reviewed later, you will then be able to reclaim any tax that you paid on these
If you received any Covid support at all, don’t forget to tick the extra box at the very end (it is box 20.1 on the actual form) which states that you have considered all the grants and declared them where necessary
If you have any problems or questions: call us for free advice on 08000 487626, message us on
Instagram @accounting4actors or email hello@accounting4actors.co.uk . Our advice about Covid
financial questions is free and always will be.
Please visit www.accounting4actors.co.uk and find out about tax for actors, accounting for creative and cultural industry professionals, actors’ tax returns, and all accounting for creatives.