14/09/2020
Penalty and Repayment regime for SEISS announced
On 28 July, HMRC announced how they intended to punish people who misused the Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS).
They have asked individuals who claimed under the scheme to review the claim they made, and with the benefit of hindsight, consider whether the claim was appropriate or excessive for their needs. Claimants have until 20 October 2020 or 90 days after they have received the grant, whichever is the later, to notify HMRC that they were not entitled to it. They will then have until 31 January 2022 to repay the balance of any overclaim by either assessment, voluntary repayment or include it in the 2020/21 income tax return.
HMRC have produced a new guidance document that details what needs to be done by the claimant in order to notify HMRC of an overpayment under SEISS, which can be found here.
Failure to notify HMRC of an excessive claim by claimants who intentionally misused the scheme before the deadline, will result in a potential penalty of 100% of the grant paid out.
For further information on the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, please contact Helen Spalding on 023 8046 1234.
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