HMRC starts to assess overclaimed SEISS grants

HMRC is writing to taxpayers whose entitlement to the fourth or fifth Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant has been reduced by more than £100 following an amendment to a Self Assessment tax return made after 2 March 2021.
From April 2022, HMRC is writing to taxpayers who it has identified as needing to repay all or part of their fourth or fifth SEISS grant following a tax return amendment. HMRC is also checking whether any amendment means that the taxpayer is entitled to the lower level (30 per cent) rather than the higher level (80 per cent) fifth grant.

When calculating the fourth and fifth SEISS grants HMRC based its calculations on the tax return data for 2016/17 to 2019/20 held in its systems on 2 March 2021. All 2016/17 to 2019/20 tax returns filed by 2 March 2021 were taken into account, as were any amendments made by that date.

Amendments to tax returns for any of the relevant tax years made after 2 March 2021 that would reduce the amount of the grant by more than £100, or would cause the taxpayer to be no longer eligible, must be notified to HMRC and the appropriate amount of grant repaid.

Amendments include HMRC corrections, taxpayer amendments and HMRC amendments made as a result of an inquiry. Contract settlements, revenue assessments or charges raised are not included as these are considered not to modify the tax return.

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