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Millions of self-employed people whose trade has been affected by coronavirus can now apply for a second subsidy from the government.
More than three million people could be eligible for the payment of up to £ 6,570 each, which Chancellor Rishi Sunak said would be the final award.
The first subsidy, launched in May, saw £ 7.8 billion claimed by 2.7 million people.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has admitted that thousands were overpaid, but it will not repay.
Some 15,000 payments – less than 0.6% of the total – were declared in the first tranche of support, the tax administration said.
“The vast majority of subsidies were paid correctly, but in a very small number of cases, not all information about a tax return was taken into account when calculating eligibility and subsidies,” a HMRC spokesman said.
“Our main priority was to ensure that self-employed people receive subsidies quickly, while protecting public money from deliberate fraudsters.”
Legal services firm Integrated Dispute Resolution, which highlighted the error, said its scale was not yet “fully understood”.
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To be eligible for the Income Support Scheme, more than half of a claimant’s income must be self-employed.
The scheme is open to those with a trading profit of less than £ 50,000 in 2018-19, as well as an average trading profit of less than £ 50,000 from 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Under the initial payment, self-employed workers who were qualified were generally eligible for a subsidy of 80% of their average profit, up to £ 2500 per month for three months.
This was paid for in one installation, from a maximum of £ 7,500.
Applications for this first payment close on July 13th.
As of Monday, the eligible can apply for the second, somewhat less generous, subsidy covering 70% of the applicant’s average monthly trading profit.
It will also be made in a single payment, covering three months and covering £ 2,190 per month, or £ 6,570 in total.
Applicants will need to confirm that their business has been affected by the virus on or after July 14, but they would not need the first grant to be eligible for the second.
Missed out
A number of self-employed people, such as self-employed administrators, freelancers, and the newly self-employed, are not happy about the government’s missing package for self-employment.
The Treasury Select Committee called on ministers to plug the holes to fulfill the government’s promise of “doing what is necessary”, but Mr Sunak defended “the right policy for the first phase of the crisis”.
The system is the alternative to the extensive furlough scheme for workers.
The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed welcomed the second round of grants.
But it said the government should be ready to reopen and “extend it to the desperate wrestling of forgotten self-employed” in case of a second wave of coronavirus.
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