More than 2.9 million people claimed at least one Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) payment up to 5 April 2022. These grants are taxable and should be declared on tax returns for the 2021/22 tax year before the deadline on 31 January 2023.

The SEISS application and payment windows during the 2021/22 tax year were:

• SEISS 4: 22 April 2021 to 1 June 2021
• SEISS 5: 29 July 2021 to 30 September 2021.

SEISS is not the only Covid-19 support scheme that should be declared on tax returns. Taxpayers who received other support payments during the 2021/22 tax year might need to report these payments on their tax returns if they are self-employed, in a partnership or a business.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s director general for customer services, said: “We want to help customers get their tax returns right, first time. We have videos and guidance available online to support you with your self-assessment. Search ‘help with self-assessment’ on GOV.UK to find out more.”

If you need to check which SEISS grants you claimed, how much you received, and when, you can login to your Government Gateway account, search ‘return to your claim’ and press the green ‘start now’ button. You will then be able to see details of all your SEISS grants.

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How to report SEISS grants on your tax return

If you use an agent or accountant to submit the return on your behalf, make sure to tell them the value of the grant(s) you received, so they can include accurate information on your return.

If you are a partner and your SEISS grants were treated as partnership income that was included in the partnership accounts, you don’t need to include the SEISS grants on the partnership page of your personal tax return.

If you complete your self-assessment tax return yourself, there is a specific place on the self-employment page to tell HMRC about SEISS grants. You must not report your SEISS grants anywhere else on your tax return, for example in the ‘any other income’ box or as part of your turnover figure, as this may result in you being taxed twice.

Guidance on how to complete your return, including which boxes to complete to ensure you accurately report your support grants and payments, can be found in the ‘notes’ pages for each return type.

If you have already submitted your 2021/22 tax return

HMRC is checking tax returns to make sure that SEISS grants have been included correctly. If you have already completed your 2021/22 return and you didn’t report your SEISS grants in the way HMRC expected, it will contact you about any changes that need to be made.

If HMRC amends your return, it’s important that you check the amendment and the SA302 tax form sent to you, to see what HMRC has changed. If you don’t check the changes, there is a risk you will pay tax and national insurance contributions twice on the same SEISS grants.