The Government has announced that self-employed parents whose trading profits dipped in 2018/19 because they took time out to have children will be able to claim for a grant under the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS).
The SEISS requires claimants to have traded in 2018/19 with their profits making up at least half of their total income; they must also have submitted a self-assessment tax return for that year on or before 23 April 2020 and need to meet the other standard eligibility criteria for support under the SEISS.
Parents (mothers, fathers and those who have adopted) who took time out of trading to care for their children within the first 12 months of birth of the child or an adoption placement will now be able to use either their 2017/18 or both their 2016/17 and 2017/18 self-assessment tax returns as the basis for their eligibility for the SEISS.