If you’re self-employed or a member of a partnership and have been impacted by coronavirus (COVID-19) you may be eligible to claim the grant.Published 13 May 2020
Last updated 9 December 2020 — see all updatesFrom:HM Revenue & Customs
Contents
- Who can claim
- What you will need to make your claim
- How to claim
- Return to your claim
- After you’ve claimed
- Records you need to keep
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You must make your claim on or before 29 January 2021.
To make a claim for the third grant your business must have been impacted by coronavirus on or after 1 November 2020.
You can make a claim for the third grant if you’re eligible, even if you did not make a claim for the first or second.
Who can claim
You must meet all the eligibility criteria to claim the third grant. Make sure you check this before submitting your claim.
What you will need to make your claim
You will need your:
- Self Assessment Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)
- National Insurance number
- Government Gateway user ID and password
- UK bank details including account number, sort code, name on the account and address linked to the account
Only provide bank account details where a Bacs payment can be accepted.
You may also need to answer questions about your passport, driving licence or information held on your credit file.
If you do not have some of those things
Find out how to get your lost Unique Taxpayer Reference.
Find out how to get your lost National Insurance number.
If you cannot remember your Government Gateway ID or password, you can attempt to recover them. You can do this when making your claim. You may need to answer questions about your passport, driving licence or information held on your credit file.
If you do not have a Government Gateway ID or password, you can create one when making your claim.
How to claim
You must make your claim between 30 November 2020 and 29 January 2021.
You must make the claim yourself. You must not ask a tax agent or adviser to claim on your behalf as this will trigger a fraud alert, which will delay your payment.
Online services may be slow during busy times. Check if there are any problems with this service.
If you’re unable to claim online you should contact HMRC for help.
HMRC will check claims and take appropriate action to withhold or recover payments found to be dishonest or inaccurate. If you know you’ve been overpaid or are not eligible for the grant and do not tell us you may have to pay a penalty.
Return to your claim
If you need to return to your claim, you can:
- check the status of your payment
- update your bank details if we have asked you to
- check how much you got for previous grants
- check to see if you think the grant amount is too low
After you’ve claimed
We will check your claim and pay your grant into your bank account within 6 working days. We will send an email when your payment is on its way.
Do not contact us unless it has been more than 10 working days since you made your claim and you have not received your payment in that time.
If your business recovers after you’ve claimed, your eligibility will not be affected as this is based on your reasonable belief that your trading profits would have been significantly reduced at the time you made your claim. You must keep evidence to support your claim.
If you made a claim in error as you were not eligible for a grant, have been overpaid or would like to make a voluntary repayment, tell HMRC and pay back some or all of the grant back.
Records you need to keep
You must keep a copy of all records in line with normal self-employment record keeping requirements, including the:
- amount claimed
- grant claim reference
If you’re currently trading but have reduced demand
You must keep any evidence that your business has had reduced activity, capacity or demand due to coronavirus at the time you made your claim, such as:
- business accounts showing reduction in activity compared to previous years
- records of reduced or cancelled contracts or appointments
- fewer invoices
- a record of dates where you had reduced demand or capacity due to government restrictions
If your business is temporarily unable to trade
You must keep evidence if your business has been unable to trade due to coronavirus, such as:
- a record of dates where you had to close due to government restrictions
- NHS Test and Trace communications – if you’ve been instructed to self-isolate in-line with NHS guidelines and are unable to work from home (if you’ve been abroad and have to self-isolate, this does not count)
- a letter or email from the NHS asking you to shield
- test results if you’ve been diagnosed with coronavirus
- letters or emails from your child’s school
Contacting HMRC
We are receiving very high numbers of calls. Contacting HMRC unnecessarily puts our essential public services at risk during these challenging times.
But you can contact HMRC if you cannot get the help you need online.Published 13 May 2020
Last updated 9 December 2020 + show all updates