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Written question asked by Zarah Sultana (Labour) on Monday, 12 April 2021, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 15 April 2021 (named day). It was answered by Jesse Norman (Conservative) on Thursday, 15 April 2021 on behalf of the Treasury.

Taxis: Coronavirus

Question

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to support self-employed taxi drivers experiencing reductions in work as a result of the covid-19 outbreak and who require financial support to bridge the gaps between receipt of Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grants.

Answer

The Government recognises that this is a challenging time for many sectors and individuals, including self-employed taxi drivers.

The Government has acted to support those that are self-employed and have been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, and announced at Budget 2021 that the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will continue until September, with a fourth and a final fifth grant.

The Government will have spent over £33 billion supporting those in self-employment through the SEISS, making it one of the most generous self-employment income COVID-19 support schemes in the world.

The SEISS is not intended to provide a month-by-month replacement of income. Due to the volatility of self-employed income and the lack of granular data that HMRC holds on self-employed trading profits, precise mapping of income replacement month by month is not possible. Instead, the SEISS provides a lump sum payment to support eligible self-employed individuals whose businesses have been affected by coronavirus.

The SEISS is just one part of a wider package of support for the self-employed, which includes automatic, self-serve time-to-pay arrangements, loans, welfare support, and other business support grants.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
179604
Session
2019-21
Subjects
Disease control Government assistance Taxis Self-employed Coronavirus
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk