The 3rd grant for the self-employed covers the 3 months from 1 November 20 to 31 January 2021.

Originally this was to be 20% of average profits, then it was increased to 40% in early October and now to assist with lockdown, it will be 80% for November, and then 40% for December and January  – this gives you the average of 55% for the 3 months being mentioned in the press.

The grant will be paid out in a single instalment and is capped at a maximum amount of £5,160.

The claim date has been brought forward to 30 November from the middle of December, so money will be paid out sooner than originally planned.  As before HMRC will contact you if they believe you may be eligible to claim.

The criteria for claiming has not changed from that set out for the first 2 grants – so if you were not eligible then, then unfortunately you will still not be able to claim this time.

For this grant you must also declare that you intend to continue to trade and either:

• you are currently actively trading but are impacted by reduced demand due to coronavirus
• you were previously trading but are temporarily unable to do so due to coronavirus

For previous grants the criteria was that you had to have been “adversely impacted” by the virus, so the change of words is interesting!

The 4th, and final grant (at the moment) will cover the period 1 Feb 21 to 30 April 21 and the level of this will be announced nearer the time.

For those who can claim, this is obviously positive news; but for those that missed out last time, either for being newly self employed, or for having other sources of income, they will still feel that they have been overlooked by the government.