Here’s a word you are probably sick to death of – unprecedented. Unprecedented times, unprecedented response by governments and global organisations.

Now that word is out of the way, lets look at the landscape for DJs, and what help they may be able to find to get through through these, errr, unprecedented events.

In particular, I’m going to focus on the USA and UK. Huge financial assistance packages have been put in place, so can you claim some money to help get you through this crazy year?

Before we start – I am not a financial professional.

I may have details wrong – if you have an accountant, speak to them, and check your local details before you push the button on anything I might talk about here! I am trying to find my way through this as much as anyone else; my skill is playing records, not navigating government policy!

That said…

USA – Independent Contractors

The USA has signed into law a $2 trillion package – what is in there for our USA DJs?

The federal government is allowing independent contractors to go through a “self-certification process”, which will allow them to claim up to $600 per week, for up to 39 weeks. This can be backdated to Jan 27th. An independent contractor, broadly speaking, is someone who makes their own schedule, doesn’t have a traditional “boss”, pays their own employment tax, and receives a 1099

Of course, there are certain hoops you need to jump through for this – you have to prove your work status, that you can’t work from home, and that you are unable to commute to and from your place of work. Also, you can’t be receiving any other form of unemployed assistance at the time of application.

With how the USA is set up, its a slightly different process from state-to-state – visit your state’s unemployment website for more info. At time of writing, its common for these sites to state that they are not taking applications yet, while they get set up to deal with them. While you get ready to apply, here’s some details you should make sure you have ready to go 

– Social Security Number
– Home Address and Mailing Address
– Telephone Number
– Email
– Bank Name
– Account Number
– Bank Address
– Routing Number for Direct Deposit

For more information, this is a pretty comprehensive article about the topic in the light of COVID-19

UK – Self Employed

In the UK, a plan has been unveiled that might help DJs out – but rests on a few conditions.

If you qualify, its a pretty nice looking deal for the short term, but the way it is set up might not be perfect for some.

Basically, they are taking an average from the last 3 years tax returns (16/17, 17/18, 18/19), or the most recent if you haven’t been trading that long.

To work out the average HMRC will add together the total trading profit for the 3 tax years (where applicable) then divide by 3 (where applicable), and use this to calculate a monthly amount. It will be up to a maximum of £2,500 per month for 3 months.

The money will be paid in one lump sum

There are some hefty catches – the most eye-catching that if less than half of your income comes from self-employed DJing, you are ineligible, so for people who split DJing with a “regular” job, this may not be ideal…. And for those who post average profits over £50k, again, this makes them ineligible. If you are excluded for any reason – write to your MP! These things are being amended as we go along, and gaps become apparent.

I received an email saying they would be in touch with eligible candidates, and that applications can be made around May/June, so this is not a short term fix – therefore, if you have savings, make sure you have access to what you need. If not, speak with your bank about overdraft facilities, short term low-interest loans, and clarify with landlords if you are able to defer or reduce rent payments until you have received government assistance. I’m reliably informed that you can claim Universal Credit while waiting for the SEISS payment. When it arrives it is treated as earnings, and your Universal Credit will be adjusted accordingly.

Another factor worth being aware of – it appears that the July 2020 tax payment on account has been automatically deferred to January 2021, buying us a bit of time. That money is still due eventually though!

This is some more info from the brilliant Money Saving Expert website – definitely worth following Martin Lewis on social media.

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy, and we at Heavy Hits will do our best to get the most up-to-date information to you.

Santero