Treasury Directive

The legal framework which details how the CJRS will operate between 1 November 2020 and 31 January 2021 was published by HM Treasury on 13 November 2020.

The Coronavirus Act 2020 Functions of her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme) Direction also formally extends the CJRS from 1 November 2020 until 31 March 2021. A further, fifth, direction will be published in due course dealing with the position from 1 February to 3 March 2021.

It should be noted that it formally withdraws the Coronavirus Job Retention Bonus.

Timescale for submitting claims

New timescales for completing furlough claims have been announced by HMRC, where claims must be submitted by 11.59pm 14 calendar days after the month you’re claiming for. This applies unless there is a “reasonable excuse for failing to make a claim in time”

The new examples which ‘may’ amount to reasonable excuse, as per the government’s guidance are:

●      your partner or another close relative died shortly before the claim deadline

●      you had an unexpected stay in hospital that prevented you from dealing with your claim

●      you had a serious or life-threatening illness, including Coronavirus related illnesses, which prevented you from making your claim (and no one else could claim for you)

●      a period of self-isolation prevented you from making your claim (and no one else could make the claim for you)

●      your computer or software failed just before or while you were preparing your online claim service issues with HMRC online services prevented you from making your claim

●      a fire, flood or theft prevented you them from making your claim

●      postal delays that you could not have predicted prevented you from making your claim

●      delays related to a disability you have prevented you from making your claim

●      a HMRC error prevented you from making your claim

When employees are serving notice periods during claim period

Where an employee is or was serving a contractual or statutory notice period and the claim period starts on or after 1 December 2020, an employer cannot claim for those days. If the period claimed for is pre-1 December 2020, the claim can only be made for where the employee is serving a statutory notice period.

Public naming

Employers should be aware that from December 2020, HMRC will be publically publishing details of those making claims under the new scheme, as well as including the details of claims being made on behalf of employees on their personal tax account pages.

The details made public will be:

●     the employer name

●     an indication of the value of the claim within a banded range

●     the company number for companies and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs)

There will be exceptions to the publication of information “if you can show that publicising these would result in a serious risk of violence or intimidation to certain relevant individuals, or any individual living with them”.

The guidance suggests that these individuals include:

●     employers that are individuals - a relevant individual can be the employer themselves, or any employee of the employer

●     employers that are companies - a relevant individual can be a director, officer or employee of that company

●     employers that are partnerships - a relevant individual can be a partner, officer or employee of that partnership

●     employers that are limited liability partnerships - a relevant individual can be a member or employee of that limited liability partnership

●     trustees of a trust - a relevant individual can be a settlor, trustee or beneficiary of the trust

If you are an employer and think that a serious risk of violence or intimidation will come from publicising your name, company registration number and amount of claim, you will need to tell HMRC and provide evidence of why you think this.

This evidence could include:

●     a police incident number if you’ve been threatened or attacked

●     documentary evidence of a threat or attack, such as photos or recordings

●     evidence of possible disruption or targeting