HMRC publish SEISS 3 statistics

HMRC have published ‘Self-Employment Income Support Scheme statistics: February 2021’. It shows that 2.2 million (65%) of the potentially eligible self-employed population had claimed on the Scheme.

The main findings for the COVID-19 relief package are:

• By 31 January 2.2 million (65%) of the potentially eligible population had claimed a third Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant. The value of the claims totalled £6.2 billion.
  • 3.4 million self-employed individuals were identified by HMRC as potentially eligible for the scheme.
• The average value per of a grant under Scheme 3 claim was £2,800.
• Around two-thirds of the potentially eligible population are male (2.3 million).
  • The average claim for females is also lower at £2,200 compared to the average claim for males of £3,100.
• The Construction industry was the sector with the highest number of potentially eligible individuals and the highest proportion of claims. By 31 January, construction workers had made 747,000 claims under the scheme, totalling £2.6 billion.
• The two regions with the highest number of claims are London (439,000) and the South East (316,000). HMRC say it reflects their relative sizes.
• Of the 1.7 million that did not meet the Scheme's criteria, 1.4 million (86%) had Trading profits less than non-trading profits (e.g. income from employment or investment income), 0.5 million (33%) had trading profits of £0 or made a loss and 0.2 million (11%) had trading profits over £50,000.
  • (N.B. Individuals may be counted more than once if they have trading profits that meet more than one of these criteria. This explains why the figures add up to more than 1.7 million).

Useful guides on this topic

COVID-19: Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS)
COVID-19: Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). Support for the self-employed during the Coronavirus crisis.

COVID-19 Self-Employment Income Support Tool
COVID-19 SEISS tool. Use this to see whether you meet the main qualifying conditions to allow you to claim under the scheme. 

FAQs: Coronavirus Self-Employment Income Support Scheme
The House of Commons has published a briefing paper, 'Coronavirus: Self-Employment Income Support Scheme’ which provides answers to 19 common questions on how the scheme works, who is eligible, and how to claim.

COVID-19: Government support tracker
This tracker covers measures announced by the government to support individuals and businesses, as we get through COVID-19. Measures are being announced and this tracker is updated on a daily basis.

External link

Self-Employment Income Support Scheme statistics: February 2021