HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will start contacting around three and a half million customers who may be eligible for the government’s Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) to explain the application process and help them get ready to make a claim.

The service opens on Wednesday, May 13, and is being delivered ahead of schedule, with payments reaching bank accounts by May 25, or six working days after the claim is made.

SEISS is a temporary scheme that will enable the self-employed to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of their average trading profits up to a maximum of £7,500 (equivalent to three months’ profits) in a single instalment.

HMRC is using information that provided in people’s 2018/19 tax return – and returns for 2016/17 and 2017/18 where needed. HMRC has also opened an online eligibility checker.

Customers are eligible if their business has been adversely affected by coronavirus, they traded in 2019/20, intend to continue trading and they:
• Earn at least half of their income through self-employment;?
• Have trading profits of no more than £50,000 per year; and?
• Traded in the tax year 2018 to 2019 and submitted their Self Assessment tax return on or before 23 April 2020 for that year.

A spokeswoman for HMRC said: “We expect our phone lines to be very busy over the next few weeks as people enter this new scheme, so are encouraging customers to only call us if they can’t find what they need on gov.uk, from their tax agent or via our webchat service – this will leave the lines open for those who need our help most.”