COVID & Salary FLR Unmarried Partner

It looks like the rules for salaries pre-COVID will stay the same through October of 2021. I will be applying for FLR in the beginning of September.

My partner was in a salaried job before this time, but was making £18,000 per year before being furloughed. I am the director of my own LTD company and my financial year falls perfectly in line with when he was finally laid off. Can I use that (I’ve filed with HMRC and it’s all up to date) to make up the extra £600? They only accept combinations of salaries if they fall in the same financial year, but don’t say anything about owning your own LTD.

My business ended up being a bit overdrawn, but I did pay extra taxes on that.

Self employed income gets tricky, so let's try to avoid that.

Did he make more than £18,600 before being furloughed.  You say £18,000 but that extra £600 is EXTREMELY important.  If so, you can just use his pre-furlough salary and you'll qualify.

If he did not make £18,600 pre-furlough, we'll talk about your self employed income.

No, he made £16,000 and then was bumped up to £18,000, NO EXTRA £600. It’s either this or both of us using director income from our own LTDs  over the past year (which we will have to combine but have the same financial years). I’m getting extra nervous because we have to apply soon. I am getting all of the documents in order but as everyone says it’s tricky and not to rely on it, it’s very scary. Don’t want to get separated after the horrendous year we’ve just had (personally and with COVID)….but it seems like it would be icing on the cake.

You mentioned that your partner was laid off from his job after being furloughed... which means you cannot use his pre-furlough salary anyway because he would have to be STILL employed with the same company at the time of applying for FLR(M) in order to be able to use his income to meet the requirements.

Does he have a new job?

If he doesn’t, you are going to have to rely on your self-employment income anyway in order to meet the future income requirement of £18,600 or more per year from 2021 onwards... if you can’t guarantee that you will definitely earn at least £18,600 from your self-employment in the next financial year (2021/22), you will have to use his self-employment income as well.

What are the dates of the financial year you will be using to meet the self-employment requirement, and how much did you earn from self-employment (before tax but after expenses) in that financial year?

If your self-employment earnings were less than £18,600 you can either add any income your partner earned from his job during that financial year, or combine both your self-employment incomes, to make it up to £18,600, but you cannot rely on his pre-furlough income to meet the main income requirement as he is no longer employed by that company.


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He was furloughed and then laid off, so I guess it goes with our companies.

I am so nervous because everyone tells us to avoid doing it, but it’s our only option now. I did read someone saying their dividend vouchers weren’t the exact same as what they’d been paid, so at least knowing that is good. Our financial years match exactly as well.

What I do worry about is that the company owes debts, but I guess the company is a separate entity to me.

I am so nervous because everyone tells us to avoid doing it, but it’s our only option now. I did read someone saying their dividend vouchers weren’t the exact same as what they’d been paid, so at least knowing that is good. Our financial years match exactly as well.

We only say to avoid it because it involves more paperwork and if you can meet the requirements under a different category instead, then using that category will likely be easier.

However, if self-employment is the only way you can meet the requirements, then you will need to use it... you’ll just need to make sure you have all the documents that are required.


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Been going over and over it. I’ve seen it done on here…I just hope we can do it!