Taxi Driver Online

But still no clarification about the issue I raised in the other thread about SEISS 5:



But have searched for clarification on a couple of professional accountants' websites:


https://barlow-andrews.co.uk/seiss-fift ... lculation/



https://www.elsbyandco.co.uk/the-knowle ... w-revealed

So the turnover figure for the earlier year will be the one submitted on your tax return. But the one for lockdown year (April to April) that you have to submit won't necessarily be the same figure you submit on your tax return that's due before January next year

But, as per the highlighted text in the quote, at least the professionals agree that it's all a wee bit confusing

When I asked the HMRC a question on their Forum about my accounting year not being April to April they replied as shown below my question.

My Question was:

"Seiss 5 Application: HMRC states that you must enter your Turnover for two different Tax Years for a comparison on your Turnover loss due to Covid, these must be between April the 1st to 6th for a full 12 months..Eg 2018-2019 or 2019-2020 to compare with 2020-2021, they state you must be precise or it'll show up when you do your next tax return, Thats good and fine, But many business's have a business year that may run form Say July to June or Sept to August.

When the tax returns for unalligned Business years are submitted they don't show an April to April Turnover, my question is how can HMRC ensure that what we enter for April to April matches our 12 business months of Sept to August.

I don't wish to have the HMRC denying me my Seiss 5 because my Annual Business Tax returns do not allign with their April to April tax years even though they are submitted to suit the April Tax year deadlines.

I don't see any way to remedy this

Their reply:

We are aware that the turnover declared for April 2020 – April 2021 will not match the previous September – August turnover due to it being a completely different accounting period.



"For the purposes of the fifth SEISS grant we are comparing the turnover for a 12 month period from April 2020 - April 2021, to a 12 month period as declared on a previous return.



We are aware that not everyone uses April to April as their accounting period, but that is the period we are asking to be used as the 'pandemic year' in determining the effect of COVID-19 on the business against a ‘normal’ year."

Basically they are saying no matter what your tax year is they want your April 2020 to March 2021 turnover.

If for any reason someone with a different tax year has difficulties with their 2019/2020 tax return, then they can use the 2018/2019 tax return.

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IDFIMH

Thanks for posting that. It's pretty straightforward, really, it's just that it was something that wasn't properly explained, although it was an obvious thing that would cause confusion, and would have been quite straightforward to explain it in the first place.

I mean, in the video Sussex posted, at one point it was specifically stated that the figure they require for lockdown year turnover would be the figure that would eventually go on your tax return. Wrong - it could be the figure, but only if you prepare accounts with a year end coinciding with the year they want you to use for lockdown turnover. (The video now seems to be marked unavailable/private - maybe they've done another one.)

But I think that's why they're allowing claimants to use a year starting any day from 1 April to 6 April 2020 for your lockdown turnover figure. 1 April is convenient if you prepare monthly figures, while 6 April is convenient if you prepare accounts for the year ending 5 April to coincide with the end of the tax year.

Incidentally, the tax year never changes - it always starts on 6 April and ends on 5 April.

What does differ between individuals is the basis period used to assess your tax liablity for a particular tax year.

The simple rule is that it's the accounting period ending during the tax year that's used to calculate your tax liability.

So my accounts are prepared for the year end 30 November. Thus for tax year 2020-21 it's the year ended 30 November 2020 that's used to assess my tax liablity. So although it's used to calculate my tax liability for the year from 6 April to 5 April, the actual profit figures used arise partly in the previous tax year

But for tax year 2020-21, for those preparing annual accounts the basis period could be anything from the year ended 30 April 2020 to the year ended 31 March 2021 (assuming year ends arising at the end of a month).

But which is why some people prepare accounts with a year end of 5 April - that way the basis period exactly coincides with the tax year

My next tax assessment in 31st January 2022 will cover my accounting year from 31st July 2019 to 1st June 2020 and my July 2020 to June 2021 accounting period will not on my tax assessment until its submission by 31st January 2023.....This time lag started 20 years ago because I started trading in June 2000 and that single month was added to my 2001-2002 tax year and it has created a 12 tax assessment month time lag ever since.

My accountant says that the HMRC will check my Seiss claim figures only after they have the true April 21 to April 22 figures they use based on both my 2019/20 and 2020/21 assessments.

Yes, it's all a bit bonkers, but of course anyone waiting until the last minute in submitting their tax returns will make estimated payments during the relevant tax year, and this will be adjusted when the final figures are known.

If I wait until January 2022 to submit my 2020-21 tax return it'll be based on the figures for the financial year ending 30 November 2020, so in theory I could have my figures ready around 13 months or so before they're actually submitted

I've just re-read the first post in this thread, over three years ago.

Can you believe it was only three years and three months ago this mess started?

Seems like a lifetime ago.

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IDFIMH

covid/lockdown/grants/school payments/low diesel prices, best 2 years i ever had...lol

and VW chucked me £1700 as well

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most