Self-employed get a bailout

You haven’t been forgotten Rishi tells them in 80% pay vow

CHANCELLOR Rishi Sunak last night told Britain’s army of self-employed workers ‘You have not been forgotten’ as he unveiled an unprecedented scheme that will pay up to 80 per cent of income lost to the coronavirus.

In another huge financial intervention, the Chancellor announced that almost four million self-employed people will qualify for cash grants to replace lost income.

Grants will be worth 80 per cent of a person’s average monthly profit over the last three years, up to a maximum of £2,500 – but the cash will not start to come through until June.

The scheme is expected to cost £3billion a month for three months, but could be extended if the epidemic drags on beyond that.

Ministers have been under intense pressure to come up with financial support for the selfemployed after announcing a bumper package that will see the state subsidise up to 80 per cent of the wages of employees hit by the fallout from the virus.

Treasury officials and some ministers were nervous about replicating the scheme because of the difficulty of accurately assessing lost income and the fact that the self-employed traditionally pay less tax in return for less state support. But after days of wrangling, Mr Sunak said he was setting aside ideology and would help support the self-employed through this unprecedented event.

He said that those who work for themselves would be able to claim support worth 80 per cent of their average monthly profits to cover the impact of the virus.

Those who are eligible – 95 per cent of selfemployed workers – would receive grants worth up to a maximum of £2,500 a month.

Mr Sunak said: ‘To support those who work for themselves, today I am announcing a new self-employed income support scheme.

‘The Government will pay self-employed people who have been adversely affected by the coronavirus a taxable grant worth 80 per cent of their average monthly profits over the last three years, up to £2,500 a month.’ He added: ‘By any international standards, the package we’ve outlined today represents one of the most generous and comprehensive ways to support those in self-employment anywhere.

‘I would conclude by saying this: to all those who are self-employed, who are rightly anxious and worried about the next few months, you haven’t been forgotten, we will not leave you behind.’

However, he warned: ‘Despite these extraordinary steps, there will be challenging times ahead. We will not be able to save every single job or every single business.’ The scheme will only be open to those with trading profits of up to £50,000 and who make most of their income from self-employment. It is also only open to those who are already self-employed and who filed a tax return for 2018-9, so will not include those who have only just become self-employed.

Those who make less than half their income from being selfemployed will be excluded, as will those who are paid via PAYE or take their pay in dividends.

At least 3.8million workers are eligible for the scheme and would receive an average of £940 per month under the package, according to Treasury sources. It will be called the Coronavirus Self-employment Income Support Scheme and will start to be paid from the beginning of June.

Another 1.7million of those who filed a tax return last year are not eligible because they earn less than half their income from self-employment.

Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the CBI, said: ‘Many self-employed people across the UK will be hugely relieved.’

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‘Generous and comprehensive