Self employed gov grant

[Dave645]

malting barley demand dropped like a stone at harvest last year due to covid, but wheat more than made up for it plus up in scotland we all got convergence payments meaning my profits are up BUT i made less than i should have because of the malting barley, i should have made an extra £30,000, so yes covid cost me a lot of mone, the fact my profits are higher than the previous year should be irrelevant

I did say increases in profits will only be a red flag, if you can prove your case, you will have nothing to worry about. You sound like you could if pushed and if you have claimed the money, you would have to show that you lost money, and why, I suppose if they were really picky they would need proof that you grow Malting Barly and it was meeting spec.
But I doubt that they will
I know the potatoes trade for chipping potatoes fell due to chip shops being shut, again that’s a case to be made and if you decided to claim money you maybe asked to make it.
These are all reasons you may have claimed, while you feel they are reasonable reasons, to claim it’s less certain if that’s in keeping with the goal of the support I am not the judge of that the tax system will be.
A lot of these scheme were put in very fast and I expect they expected some incorrect claims and I am also sure they will do there best to draw back what they can if they deem it incorrectly claimed.
Like I said if you have a reason to make a claim then I expect it will be asked for, if your profits increased, but unfortunately for us they get to judge as to if those that claimed it were following the spirit of the support system or not.

 

[Dave645]

To be fair I did have my holiday let hat on when I was talking about loss of income, so I probably agree with you. I couldn't really make a claim with my farmers hat on.

That said if a tax return is made up of a combination of holiday let income and farm income further blurring the lines.

But you have a good case with the holiday let, any accountant can show the drop in income from a holiday let separated out from the main accounts.

 

[Dave645]

I can think of plenty. My ability to utilise abattoirs was curtailed (they were shut from staff illness) so direct sales to public were much less; my access to vet care was more tricky and gave extra costs (maintaining social distancing meant everything took longer); my main customer base (direct hotel sales) became impossible as the hotels were shut; the ability to buy fresh stock at market became much harder (online sales rather than in person mart visits); seasonal use of senior family members wasn’t possible (self shielding) so more had to be contracted out. And I’m not a large farmer by any stretch.

Sounds like you could make a case no problem.
now the crunch will come if the inland revenue agree. I don’t make the rules they do.

 

[Dave645]

i bought a tractor that tax year will that help the situation?

If you can demonstrate a loss of income from COVID then buying a tractor has no Bearing on any money you claimed.
Showing an increased profit while it maybe a red flag it’s doesn’t mean you incorrectly claimed any money.
My guess is they will take profits before write down investments as there indicator as let’s face if hiding a large increase in profits is often done like that, because it makes sense to invest instead of paying tax.

 

[Optimus]

Do you mean loan ??
Grant doesn’t need paying back as long as you qualified for the grant

Yeah that was for the loan.

 

[Highland Mule]

Sounds like you could make a case no problem.
now the crunch will come if the inland revenue agree. I don’t make the rules they do.

It all comes down to individual circumstances. I’d be surprised if many would get challenged by the IR, but some might and then as we see they can claw back a bit through tax returns too. In my case, I didn’t claim as I’d made an accounting loss for the reference period.