Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) – HMRC ‘Stopped Trading’ Email
HMRC have recently sent an email to people who claimed a grant under the SEISS but also told HMRC on their tax return that they stopped trading during either the tax year 2018/19 or 2019/20. This means that they were potentially ineligible for the scheme and may need to repay the money they received. The email asks the recipient to take action by 22 March 2021 – either to contact HMRC to provide evidence if the person is still trading or to repay the grant if they are no longer trading. If no action is taken, HMRC will prevent the person from making any further SEISS claims.
A copy of the email, which was sent on 26 February 2021, is provided below. The email has not been copied to agents (where the recipient has an agent). HMRC were unable to do this on this occasion given the timescales associated with the project, but will consider this for future compliance activity.
Where HMRC are unable to contact a person by email, such as in instances where they do not have the person’s email address, they intend to issue a letter but will provide a longer deadline to respond.