The Government recently announced a package of support for the self-employed, similar to that which is available to employed people.  However, anyone who started self-employment after 6 April 2019, and has therefore not filed a previous tax return, will not qualify for this help. This inequitable gap for those who became self-employed after 6 April 2019, estimated to be in excess of 600,000, must be addressed.

The government have defended this policy on the grounds that parameters must be set in order to avoid the risk of fraud. It is our view that those who can provide proof of self-employment income from 6 April 2019 (for example, through copies of contracts and bank statements evidencing payments for the period April 2019 to March 2020), who are affected by the Covid19 crisis, and who will file a tax return for 2019/2020, should be given the same support available to other self-employed people.

They should, for example, receive a grant of up to 80% of the profit shown on their tax return, once filed with HMRC (with the same cap of £2,500 per month, and £50,000 turnover limit), in the same way as those who have filed a 2018/2019 tax return, and are therefore eligible for the support. The provision of evidence of trading and a filed tax return for 2019/2020 should be sufficient to address the Government's concerns about fraud. Please sign the petition today, share with all your contacts, and help bring about this change.  The government petition we have submitted is currently awaiting approval for publication. However, as we have been given no timescale for this, we have started a change.org petition in the interim.