Thousands of people issued a self-employment coronavirus support grant by the Government have been told that their payout was either too high to should not have been issued at all. The SEISS scheme is designed to cover freelance income losses amid the virus outbreak, with 2.7m people applying for funding totalling £7.8bn. HMRC admitted that 16,200 pay-outs - 0.6% of the total – were given incorrect information. They will not be asked to repay the funds but should expect a lower sum should they make an application for a second grant. Tax expert Kevin Humphreys said: "All self-employed can reclaim SEISS again as early as next Monday, so it’s paramount that any “glitches” in the way HMRC calculated the first grants must be fully addressed and rectified urgently."
Read more: Daily Mirror