Guidance

Reporting COVID-19 grants and support payments

If you operate as a business, find out if you need to include a COVID-19 grant or support payment on your tax return.

Grants and payments from schemes to support businesses and self-employed individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic are taxable.

Who should report a grant or support payment

If you received a payment to support you during COVID-19, you may need to report this on your tax return if you are:

  • self-employed
  • in a partnership
  • a business

Which payments you need to report

You need to report grants and payments from COVID-19 support schemes. These include:

  • the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS)
  • test and trace or self-isolation payments in England, Scotland and Wales
  • the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)
  • Eat Out to Help Out
  • Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate
  • Coronavirus Business Support Grants

Coronavirus Business Support Grants

These are grants or payments made by one of the following:

  • local authorities
  • devolved administrations
  • any other public authority

They are also known as local authority grants or business rate grants.

Examples of these grants in England include:

  • Small Business Grant Fund
  • Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund
  • Local Authority Discretionary Grant Fund
  • Fisheries Response Fund

Examples of these grants in Wales include:

  • Welsh Government Business Grants (Grants 1 and 2)
  • Economic Resilience Fund

Examples of these grants in Scotland include:

  • Business Support Fund
  • Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund
  • Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund
  • Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund
  • Aquaculture Hardship Fund
  • Sea Fisheries Hardship Fund

Examples of these grants in Northern Ireland include:

  • Small Business Support Grant Scheme
  • Retail, Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Grant
  • other business related COVID-19 emergency and hardship funds

If you have received a Coronavirus Business Support Grant, it is taxable.

There are some exceptions, for example, if the grant was made to a mutual trading organisation.

How to report a grant or payment

Self Assessment tax return

SEISS payments should be placed in the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme Grant box on your Self Assessment tax return. You should record all other taxable COVID-19 payments in the any other business income box.

If you’re self-employed, find out how to report your grant or payment using:

If you’re in a partnership, find out how to report your grant or payment using:

Company Tax Return

If you received a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme grant or an Eat Out to Help Out payment, you will need to do both of the following:

  • include it as income when calculating your taxable profits in line with the relevant accounting standards
  • report it separately on your Company Tax Return using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Eat Out to Help Out boxes

You should record all other taxable COVID-19 payments as income when you calculate your taxable profits.

Find out how to report a grant or payment on your Company Tax Return (CT600).

Which payments you do not need to report

You do not need to report a COVID-19 support payment on your Self Assessment tax return if this is a welfare payment made by a council to an individual, for example to help with:

  • council tax payments
  • housing benefit

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme loans and Bounce Back loans are not COVID-19 support payments or grants. You do not need to report these on your tax return.

Help and support

If you are not sure if the COVID-19 support payment you received is taxable or you would like further help, you should contact HMRC.

Published 6 August 2021
Last updated 16 September 2023 + show all updates
  1. The guidance has been updated, as the COVID-19 helpline for businesses and the self-employed is now closed.

  2. New section 'Company Tax Return' added. This explains that grants and payments to support businesses during coronavirus (COVID-19) are taxable and need to be declared on Company Tax Returns.

  3. First published.