I’ve just done a furlough payment claim under the coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS) with HMRC for one of my clients (a limited company director) using my online HMRC tax agent’s account and I was really surprised about how quick and easy it was. Well done HMRC!
The claim is in the form of a questionnaire and HMRC just asked a few questions around:
- The company’s name, address and corporation tax UTR number
- The names of the employees being furloughed and the dates involved
- The amounts being claimed, this is the famous 80% figure
- Business bank account details (although there was an option for personal bank account details)
- Contact phone number
After about 20 minutes, which included reading and accepting various declarations, e.g. that the furloughed employee would not be providing their services or generating revenue, and that HMRC would be checking the claim and had the right to reject claims or recover monies over claimed, I just had to click on “accept and submit”, and the job was done.
It is worth remembering that in order to claim under the CJRS the limited company director (or employee) would need to have been on their company’s payroll and a PAYE submission made for them on or before 19 March 2020. And that the decision to furlough a director should be noted in the company records and communicated in writing to the director(s) concerned. The written communication should be kept for 5 years.
Also, although services should not be provided by the director (or employee), HMRC will still allow limited company director’s to claim an 80% furlough payment if they are required to fulfill statutory obligations for their company, e.g. assisting with Companies House submissions, but no more than this.
For details and guidance on how to calculate what, if anything, your company is owed please click here.
In order to make the claim with HMRC you would need to, if you haven’t done so already, register your company for PAYE Online and log into the HMRC PAYE Online account to confirm the declarations above and answer the questions above. Alternatively, your accountant can log into their HMRC tax agent account and complete the application on your behalf. Your PAYE scheme must have been setup and payroll submissions made to HMRC on or before 19 March 2020.
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AR Tax Accountants
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The above information is just for guidance purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice and consulting the legislation.
