heathcote wrote:
StuartW wrote:
I wouldn't bother arguing about how public transport is defined with regard to Covid-19 - totally irrelevant to what any rules might be for the trade.
If there are to be rules I'm 99.9% certain there won't be blanket requirements covering buses, trains and the trade. There would be specific rules for the trade, of that I'm certain. And that might come down to local authorities rather than central government.
Anyway, as regards the 50% rule and eligibility for the self-employment grants, noticed this on my accountant's website:
Quote:
HMRC state that total income for the purposes of the 50% test would be taxable income from all sources for the relevant year such as property income, bank interest, employment income and social security income.
So I suspect that for the vast majority of the trade, income from those sources won't be more than their income from the trade. So majority should be eligible for the grant.
You missed off your list as displayed on your accountants website,pensions which is on the HMRC eligibility 50% test list.
Indeed, it wasn't *my* list, it was my accountant's. Oh, you just said that, and that information was in the quote you included. My mistake for repeating that minor detail for the third time in one post
Anyway, the list obviously wasn't exhaustive, and the words 'such as' before my accountant's list of sources indicates that those sources were simply examples. (And indeed 'social security income' might actually include pensions, depending on the source of the pension.)
But, yes, pension income is an obvious reason someone might not be eligible for the self-employment grants.
But, roughly speaking, that would probably mean a part-time driver, or someone with a very substantial pension. Which, to reiterate, doesn't seem to me to represent the mainstream trade.
As regards simple numbers, however, you may have a point because in the two areas I've worked in there have been a lot of part-time drivers, and indeed possibly a majority of drivers obtaining their main income outside the trade, so to that degree wouldn't be eligible for the grants. And, indeed, possibly a majority of such drivers wouldn't be declaring their income anyway, so to that extent eligibility is totally off the radar screen.
Of course, the prevalence of part-time drivers seems to vary from area to area, so to the extent that possibly a majority of drivers in a particular area obtain most of their income from other sources, then you're right - most drivers wouldn't be eligible for the grants.