The Coronavirus Bill is currently going through Parliament and an important amendment has been proposed for the self-employed. This is a welcome introduction to reduce the disparity between the support that the government has introduced for employees under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (further information on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme)
The Bill states that a scheme must be introduced to provide Statutory Self-Employment Pay.
The scheme will provide for the self-employed and freelancers to receive from the government, the lower of:
i. 80 per cent of their monthly net earnings, averaged over the last three years, or
ii. £2,917 per month
Regulations will be needed to introduce the scheme.
At present, there is no further information available and clarification will be required to determine who is be categorised as self-employed or freelance and how the scheme will be administered. The assumption is that HMRC will administer the scheme, as is the case for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
We will update you with further information as it is published.
For more information on the article above please contact the Employment team
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