HMRC has released information for tax agents and via the Treasury select committee about the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) service and announced the go-live date for the online claims portal.
The CJRS is part of a series of measures to support businesses and their employees. It allows employers to claim 80% of the wages to a maximum of £2,500 of their furloughed workers. Furloughed workers are on temporary leave.
The note to tax agents advises:
- Claims should not be made by phone
- Businesses and agents authorised for their clients’ PAYE will be able to claim through the portal
- Payroll Bureaus and file-only agents will not be able to claim due to data protection – however, they can assist their clients with employee data required for the claims
- To claim, businesses will need to provide each employee’s National Insurance number, plus the salary, NI and pension contribution details used to calculate each claim
- The portal is designed to be self-service with built-in guidance throughout
The portal is due to go live on April 20th 2020, and HMRC aims to pay the claims ten days after submission. Future applications will be paid between four and six days after submission.
HMRC is putting together a support pack about how to compile and submit claims. They have redeployed 2,500 staff to support the CJRS with another 3,000 available if needed.
Find out more
To access all the information from the government related to the CJRS plus other Coronavirus related help, visit https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
There is also an HMRC webinar about the CJRS running over the coming days. You can register here.
