Closing date for submitting CJRS claims approaches
23 October 2020
As the deadline for making claims under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) rapidly approaches, on 30 November 2020, following the scheme’s closure on 31 October 2020, payroll professionals are reminded, not only of timeframes, but also of the importance of ensuring accuracy within their claims, along with the process to follow where any overpayments have been identified.
There is guidance available which details the steps that claimants have to take in order to repay all, or some of, their grant back. The information provided can also apply where a claimant wants to make a voluntary repayment because they do not want or need the grant for the purposes of paying the wages of employees.
Corrections can either be made by making the relevant adjustments within the next claim that is submitted, or a payment reference number can be generated if no further claims are to be sent. The reference number is generated via the online service, and there is a period of 30 days from the date it is provided in which to make payment to HMRC. It is imperative for claimants to use the correct reference number so that HMRC can allocate the payment correctly, and no payments should be made prior to the generation of that reference number.
Payments can be made by Faster Payments, CHAPS, BACS, by debit card or by corporate credit card.
In scenarios where an overclaim has not yet been paid back to HMRC, claimants have a period of time in which to notify HMRC, and this is the latest of:
- 90 days after the date the grant they were not entitled to was received
- 90 days after the date the grant they were no longer entitled to keep because their circumstances has changed was received
Previously, 20 October 2020 was one of the deadline dates but that has now passed.
Claimants who do not adhere to these deadlines may be required to pay a penalty.
The information in this article is accurate at the time of publication. For all the latest information, news and resources on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting payroll professions, visit our Coronavirus hub.