Taxi Driver Online

The following is taken from the moneysavingexpert.com website >

“Bounce back loans DON'T affect your eligibility for other Government personal support. You can still apply for a bounce back loan and get the self-employment income support grants, and you may still be eligible for universal credit.”

Indeed, but pretty sure there's something Edders isn't telling us

Anyway, story in the S** about a backbench rebellion if chancellor doesn't extent the SEISS scheme. The MP leading it wants it extended by two months.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11671441/ ... ed-scheme/

A piece in the Telegraph suggests the %age could be lowered, or the limit reduced from £2,500 per month. The latter would suit me down to the ground

Martin Lewis was on TV the other day and he sounded quite pessimistic, and said that he'd been told by insiders to downplay expectations

Of course, this may be so the chancellor can announce an extension but restrict the payments, but still get a reasonable reception for it - expectations management, and all that.

I'd still put money on there being some kind of extension, and I'd be happy with another couple of months even if they reduced the cap from £2,500 to £1,500, say, because that wouldn't affect me

Of course, I'd be happier still with another six month extension, but realistically that isn't going to happen. And even if it was felt necessary to extend any of these things beyond the autumn, the state of the economy at the end of it doesn't bear thinking about

Reading Edders's earlier post it looks like it was the business rates relief application that threw the spanner in the works not the BBL nor self-employment income support grant applications.

correct I haven't applied for the BBl but did try for the business rates one which is why I am now having to appeal on this one and have been advised that I will probably get neither because I applied for both but have been told to apply for the BBL instead of the self employed grant

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Taxis Are Public Transport too

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Anyway, interesting article below about a driving instructor in Fife who's having difficulty accessing financial support.

Although there's a big something here that's not explained adequately, and which isn't difficult to spot:


Driving instructors fear being driven out of business by lack of support

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/lo ... f-support/

A driving instructor is warning businesses like hers will be driven to the wall during the coronavirus crisis.

Dawn King, from Buckhaven, is self-employed driving and had a thriving business with four cars on the road and more than 100 pupils before Covid-19 struck.

She said many people in her industry were facing ruin because they don’t qualify for grants and loans available.

“If I don’t get back to work or financial help soon my business will go bust through no fault of my own, and the government are showing no interest in helping,” she said.

“Most jobs require a driving licence. Without us driving instructors, half the members of government wouldn’t have theirs and yet we will be the first to fold.

“Some businesses with premises are getting grants and loans and able to furlough their staff.

“We are getting none of that. Nothing.”

Ms King said she had been told she does not qualify for the furlough scheme as she is self-employed. She is also ruled out of grant schemes for low rate or non-rate payers as she does not operate out of a physical building.

She has looked into the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) but was shocked to discover that requires a business bank account, which she does not have as a sole trader. She was also knocked back for a Bounce Back Loan for the same reason.

Grants through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) are not available as her self-employed turnover for 2018/19 is less than her employment income.

She is currently receiving £375 a month in Universal Credit, she said, and is struggling to pay essential bills let alone any business bills or food.

“No matter what avenue I have explored I just get thrown back – I am desperate to the point where my health and mental health is being severely affected,” she said.

“There doesn’t seem to be any support out there for us who don’t have premises or who haven’t been self employed for two or more years.

“Creditors are allowing a two-month payment holiday at most, so from June I will have to somehow start paying all my bills again on top of that I will have the holiday payments to pay.”

A spokesperson for the UK Government said a number of measures were being put in place to support self-employed people and HMRC would be contacting those eligible by mid-May.

The spokesperson said it could not “guarantee to protect every business and every household” but insisted the government’s economic response aims to be “as comprehensive as possible whilst delivering support as quickly as we can to those who need it”.

The Federation of Small Businesses aays it has raised the issue of gaps in support for self-employed with Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Not sure if that's a clanger or a lame attempt at a joke, and while I don't want to sound too po-faced, it doesn't seem appropriate in a newspaper article like this


Both the 'a' and 'instructor' missing there, so maybe suggests the sub-editor having some time off. So maybe the 'joke' just a clanger that was missed.


So she's actually earning more as an employee than her earnings as proprietor of the driving school? Where, precisely is that coming from? (I'm assuming that by 'turnover' the article means 'profit', because the turnover figure is irrelevant to the self-employment grant.)

My Business partner (Mrs B) earns more from her other main employment as from our Partnership and the HMRC rules are that if you earn more than 50% from your main employment you don't get the Self Employment support Grant....that said she's earning and I'm not so no fripes there.

Also I find it odd that had this lady been running 4 cars as part of a Business she did not have a business bank account as it's a useful tool to have.

She should still have qualified for a BBL though.

there is a big difference there though I have been self employed for over 30 years and have 30 years worth of filings so should have and was told that I did qualify for the self employed scheme.

It was after they realised that I had also applied for the scheme based on business rates that they put my claim under investigation.

I am now appealing and so there is a slim chance of getting it

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Taxis Are Public Transport too

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I have a friend who is self employed but also a director of the company he works for. They have an office and were in receipt of small business rate relief. The business qualified and got the £10,000 rates grant. He also qualified for the self employed 80% of profit, which he has been told how much he will be getting and he has also received a bounce back loan. So I can't for the life of me see why you are not getting anything.

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Grandad,
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Where does it say that you can not apply for both

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

It doesn't.

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Grandad,
To support my charity text MAYORWALK to 70085 to donate £5

nowhere that I can find but the person i spoke to at the IR said that being rejected for the rates grant was what flagged my claim up

As I said it is now under appeal hopefully I will get something but if I do it will be a reduced amount than was initially offered

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Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !

Couple of the oldies down here have had their applications for the grant refused as they are taking their pension.

Bearing in mind they are still paying tax via the self assessment process, it does seem a bit mean.

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IDFIMH

You're saying your claim for the self-employment grant was flagged up at HMRC because you were rejected for the rates grant?

As others are saying, I don't think there's any link at all as regards eligibility for the self-employment grant, the bounce back loans and the rates assistance. They're all stand alone, I'm quite sure.

So I suspect what's been flagged up during the process is some kind of, er, irregularity

Indeed, that was one of the crudities of the scheme obvious from the kick off.

But as I said earlier, it's probably the case that drivers ineligible because of the 50% rule either have substantial other income and/or they're part-timers in the trade, or whatever.

But like the £50,000 cut-off for high earners, it's an all or nothing rule.

So if you had a £9k pension but made £11k as a taxi driver you're fine, and get the full grant.

But if you have an £11k pension but £9k from the trade, you get zero.

They should have just based it on the percentage of your earnings that was gained from self-employment, which would have been fairer, and a very simple extra calculation in the formula, using figures readily available to HMRC.