HMRC releases draft legislation introducing rules on the taxation of coronavirus business support grants
01 June 2020
HMRC is asking for views on draft legislation it has published that relates to ensuring that coronavirus business support grants are subject to tax. Individuals are invited to provide feedback and have until 23:45 on 12 June to do so.
The measure will ensure that grants within the legislation are subject to tax, as they are treated as income where businesses are within the scope of either Income Tax or Corporation Tax.
The legislation will also grant HMRC powers to recover payments which should not have been made under both the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). This could be where an individual is not entitled to SEISS and has claimed regardless, or where a company has claimed for a grant under the CJRS, which they have not used to pay employees their wages, and the associated pension, National Insurance (NI) and PAYE contributions. In situations of deliberate non-compliance, HMRC will have the power to issue penalties.
Anyone wishing to provide a response should email their feedback to [email protected] prior to the closing date.
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.