Chancellor Rishi Sunak had bolstered the government's response to the coronavirus by bringing the self-employed into the fold of emergency income packages, but by his own admission this cannot extend to every worker in the UK.
Seb Maley, chief executive of tax consultant for the self-employed Qdos, highlighted those individuals who pay themselves a salary and dividends through their own limited companies are technically considered employees of the business, and would fall outside of the government's help.
Mr Maley said this was despite taking the same risks as sole traders in some instances.
The government has pledged to cover 80 per cent of self-employed workers' average earnings over the past three years, up to a maximum of £2,500 a month and with payments expected to start in June.
Mr Sunak said 95 per cent of people who are majority self-employed will be able to use the scheme and qualifying individuals must have trading profits under £50,000.
However, Mr Maley added: "Sole traders may end up slipping through the cracks and fail to qualify for the self-employment support, while the low salary most directors draw means the amount they'll receive - if anything - from the job retention scheme simply isn’t enough."
The government has pointed to the Job Retention Scheme has a possible support option during the coronavirus lockdown for directors who own their own company and are paid through PAYE.
Mr Maley said: "Hundreds of thousands of people work this way in the UK - often out of choice, but sometimes out of necessity because their clients require them to.
"These individuals pay their fair share of tax and offer businesses the flexibility and skills they need in circumstances like these, so for the government to all-but disregard directors of one person companies is particularly short-sighted."
Dave Chaplin, chief executive of ContractorCalculator, warned there were many owners of small UK businesses currently suffering amid the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus lockdown.
Mr Chaplin said:"The government has ignored a large section of the market.
"It seems unfair that employees of all incomes are covered up to £2,500 per month by the job retention scheme, yet medium earning directors of their own one-man businesses are penalised during a time of national crisis simply because they are incorporated.
"This is often a requirement driven by their clients because they will not deal with sole traders."
Joanne Harris, technical commercial manager at the accountancy firm SJD Accountancy, warned "hundreds of thousands" of independent contractors and freelancers who work through their own limited company in the UK had so far fallen through the cracks of the government’s emergency Covid-19 measures.
Ms Harris said even those directors which did qualify for the coronavirus job retention scheme suggested by the government could find themselves lacking in financial support.
She said: "Given that the majority of these workers typically pay themselves a low salary of around £719 per month, and the rest in dividends which are excluded from their earnings calculation, they’re being asked to live off just £575 a month in financial support from the government.
"The government acknowledged that it would be difficult to support all types of workers, but there was also a promise that no-one would be left behind and at the moment, these independent small business owners have clearly been left out in the cold."
Some will see this has another blow for directors or limited companies, who have already had to contend with changes to entrepreneurial relief this year and impending changes to the controversial IR35 tax rules.
Both the prime minister and chancellor have been vocal about the challenges faced by the government in trying to include all workers in an emergency coronavirus response package, admitting some will be left outside in the cold.
In March, Mr Sunak announced the government would cover 80 per cent of at-risk employees' salaries for three months, in a move he labelled as "unprecedented in the history of the British state".
But the government faced criticism over the self-employed being left out of the measures and emotions ran high in the House of Commons last week as Boris Johnson faced a grilling from MPs over constituents waiting on the "same promises" for weeks.
Amid the confusion surrounding the coronavirus lockdown, the self-employed have also found themselves targets of criminals looking to capitalise on the pandemic.
Last week, Financial Adviser learned a scam text message was circulating claiming to offer the self-employed a lump sum of money from HM Revenue & Customs in light of the lockdown, with a link requesting bank details to complete the transaction.
rachel.mortimer@ft.com
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