Chancellor Rishi Sunak Announces Delayed Support For Self-employed Workers
Today (26 March), the Chancellor Rishi Sunak finally announced Government support for the self-employed, after criticism that they had been forgotten in plans to help workers during the shutdown.
The Chancellor laid out plans for a new self-employed income support scheme, saying the Government would pay self-employed people a taxable grant based on their previous earnings over the past three years, worth up to 80% of average monthly profit, and capped at £2,500 a month.
The scheme will run for a minimum of three months, and is open to anyone with average profits of £50,000 or less, who make the majority of their income from self-employment, and who are already self-employed and have a tax return from 2019.
The Chancellor estimates that this scheme should cover 95% of those who are self-employed.
This is welcome news for the many people in the arts sector who are self-employed. However, the support payments will not be distributed until June, leaving many self-employed people in severe financial difficulties in the meantime.
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