The Chancellor Rishi Sunak is to delay announcement of details/payment of a fourth SEISS grant until March 3rd, which is also the date of 2021 Budget statement.
The fourth grant for self employed people would have covered the period from February to April 2021. It was expected that a payment would be made toward the start of February inline with the grant period and how the payment of the third SEISS grant was made in November.
It is thought that the calculation for SEISS 4 will differ from those previously as it will take into account the profits reported for the tax year 2019/2020, so the three year average income basis will move one year forward from previous grants. If the calculation is updated it would mean people who launched their businesses after April 2019 would be eligible to apply too.
The filing deadline for the 2019/2020 tax return was technically moved forward to February 28th so releasing grant details after that date could mean an inclusion of that tax return in the calculation.
Traders with cash flow issues would have been looking for the relief of a grant loan to tide themselves over, particularly considering that the end of January is when many would have paid tax bills or payments on account.
The payment on account in particular is troublesome as it was already deferred from July last year, and would have to be paid to avoid incurring interest charges.