Surviving the pandemic

Key points

• Not all self-employed knew they could claim self-employed income support scheme payments.
• The tax charities set up a coronavirus service to assist people on low incomes.
• The service also helped people claim under the coronavirus job retention scheme.
• A tax return service assisted potential SEISS claimants complete their 2018-19 tax returns.
• Please support the tax charities.

Few of us have been untouched by Covid-19. As well as the impact on health and social wellbeing a particular effect is the devastation of many people’s livelihoods – and those suffering most include those on very low incomes especially self-employed people and many in the gig economy.

Government support was available from early on in the first lockdown through the self-employed income support scheme (SEISS). But some people did...