How do I access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme?
The scheme is being administered by HMRC under a new online portal that has been set up. It applies to businesses, charities, recruitment agencies, individuals who employ a nanny, administrators (where there is a reasonable likelihood of re-hiring the workers) and public authorities.
All employers with a UK payroll can apply as long as you have:
- Created and started a PAYE payroll scheme on or before 28 February 2020
- Enrolled for PAYE online (which can take up to 10 days)
- A UK bank account.
To make a claim you will need:
- The number of employees being furloughed
- The start and end date of the claim
- The name and National Insurance Numbers for each furloughed employee
- Your employer PAYE reference number
- To be registered for PAYE online
- The Self-Assessment Unique Taxpayer Reference, Corporation Tax Unique Taxpayer Reference or Company Registration Number as appropriate for your entity
- Your UK bank account details and sort code
- Your name and contact number
- Your organisation’s registered name
- Your organisation’s billing address
- The full amounts you are claiming for including:
- Employee wages
- Employer national insurance contributions
- Employer minimum pension contributions
For claims for those who are flexibly furloughed you will also need:
- the number of usual hours the employee would work during the claim period
- the hours the employee has worked or will work during this period
- you will also need to keep a record of the number of furloughed hours that the employee has or will be furloughed for.
You will need the above information ready before you access the system to make a claim. You will also need to have calculated the amounts claimed in advance as the application needs to be completed in one session. You can currently save one draft of the application and it must be completed within 7 days of starting it.
The Government has issued a step-by-step guide for employers who wish to make a claim under the scheme which can be found using the link below. It contains useful information about calculating the payments claimed. You will need to register for a Government Gateway ID and password if you do not yet have one in order to access the portal.
If you use an agent who is authorised to act for you for PAYE purposes, they will be able to make a claim on your behalf. If you use a file only agent (who files your RTI return but doesn’t act for you on any other matters) they won’t be authorised to make a claim for you and you will need to make the claim yourself. A file only agent can assist you in obtaining the information required to make a claim (listed above). If an agent makes a claim on your behalf you will need to tell them which bank account you would like the grant to be paid into.
For claims for fewer than 100 employees you will need to input the details separately for each employee. If claiming for more than 100 employees you can upload a file with the information instead. The file should include the following information for each furloughed employee: name, National Insurance number, claim period and claim amount, payroll/employee number (optional). You will also need to include details of hours normally worked, actual hours worked and hours furloughed for those who are flexibly furloughed.
The need to demonstrate the impact of coronavirus on your business is not one of the criteria listed above about who can make a claim, so the government does not appear to intend to set a specific test to determine if a business is “severely impacted by coronavirus”. You are not required to explain the impact of Coronavirus on your business when submitting your claim.
HMRC will retain the right to audit any claim retrospectively. You must keep records for 6 years including:
- the amount claimed and claim period for each employee
- the claim reference number
- you calculations for each claim
- details of hours usually worked and hours actually worked for flexibly furloughed employees.
You must tell your employees that you have made a claim under the scheme, and you must continue to pay their wages during this time.
Related FAQs
The Confederation of British Industry
“What you need to know about coronavirus and how it will impact your business”. This includes the very influential and highly regarded daily webinars hosted by Director General Dame Carolyn Fairburn.
https://www.cbi.org.uk/coronavirus-hub/
The Entrepreneurs’ Forum
Links to valuable resources collected by the Entrepreneurs’ Forum team as requested by its members and partner network, including on People, Finances, Physical and Mental Wellbeing, Technology and Leadership.
https://entrepreneursforum.net/support-hub
RTC North
Billed as containing “all the UK government information in one place”, this resource includes information on access to finance, employees, planning and leadership, Growth hub toolkits, and working from home.
https://www.rtcnorth.co.uk/covid-19/
Newcastle Gateshead Initiative (NGI)
Businesses across the UK and around the world are sharing their expertise in everything from remote working to business planning. The team at NGI have collated some of the most useful resources, alongside its own content which is designed to help partner organisations and other businesses across North East England.
https://www.ngi.org.uk/covid-19-business-resources/
North East of England Chamber of Commerce
The NEECC brings together its latest advice and guidance for businesses, as well as some of its own FAQs.
https://www.neechamber.co.uk/covid-19
Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce
The Chamber has pulled together information about how it and others in the area are supporting all businesses during the Covid-19 outbreak.
https://www.gmchamber.co.uk/covid-19-coronavirus/
North East Growth Hub
The North East Growth Hub toolkit is intended to provide businesses with the latest advice, guidance and support available from government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics covered include:
- Financial support available for businesses
- Official guidance for employees, employers and businesses
- Advice on effective home working
- How to care for staff/suppliers/customers and prevent the spread of COVID-19
https://www.northeastgrowthhub.co.uk/toolkits/covid-19-coronavirus-toolkit
Pro-Manchester
Links to valuable resources collected by the Pro-Manchester team, including national Government support and advice, regional support and cyber security advice.
https://www.pro-manchester.co.uk/home/covid-19-support/
Innovation SuperNetwork
The Innovation SuperNetwork, a “network of networks”, detail on their website what their team of Innovation Managers are offering during these difficult times, as well as details of funding available, and what is being offered by their numerous partners.
Payments of the Community Infrastructure Levy (“CIL”) are tied to commencement of development, and where an instalment policy is in place, the instalments are usually tied to periods of time following commencement rather than build out rates. Therefore where a development has commenced, payments of CIL are likely to fall due in respect of a site notwithstanding that the site may have temporarily closed or build out rates have slowed.
New regulations now in force, provide some additional relief for those developers with an annual turnover of £45 million or less. Such relief will allow the Council to defer payments, disapply late interest charges, and refund late interest charges that have already been levied since 21 March 2020.
For those developers that cannot benefit from the new provisions, unless a Council has adopted an exceptional circumstances relief policy the regulations do not provide for any relief to be provided in instances where payment of CIL will create viability issues. Most Councils have not adopted such a policy, and in those circumstances the CIL liability will remain due in accordance with the payment schedule on the demand notice.
Councils are at liberty to amend their instalment policies in accordance with their own internal procedures, and the Government is encouraging Councils to explore this option to provide some relief to developers. However this will only assist in respect of any prospective instalments where the development commences after the new instalment policy has been adopted.
For those developers whose annual turnover exceeds £45 million, the Government seems to be taking the view that such developers can afford their CIL liabilities regardless of the current climate. The only concession the Government has proposed is to encourage Councils to make use of the existing discretion they have in respect of the imposition of surcharges for late payments.
Where a couple is not married, they have limited rights in relation to each other’s assets and these mainly relate to rights over property assets. There is complex Trust law which governs whether or not your partner could claim an interest in your property and it generally relates to where someone has invested in renovations on the property or promises have been made. If this is something you are concerned about, you and your partner could enter in to a Cohabitation Agreement. These Agreements can set out various matters, including who will pay the bills and where each of you would live if you separated. Most importantly, they can record your intentions about who owns the property and exclude any rights your partner would have against your property.
Changing to shift working may give employers the opportunity to change hours / pay whilst also focusing work when it is needed. Like the other provisions, this should be done fairly, either across the board or by selecting teams/individuals based on objective business reasons. Imposing without agreement would create significant risk, therefore would require fair selection and consultation.
We are working with many of our clients to progress with stopping up applications in order to divert/stop up highways and public rights of way affecting development sites. Due to lockdown restrictions the Department for Transport stalled the progress of applications because they were unable to comply with the statutory publicity requirements. We have very recently been contacted by the Department for Transport casework team who have confirmed that the stopping up/diversion applications can now be progressed. We are aware that Councils across the country are also now progressing with applications. Please contact us if you require any advice/assistance in respect of your application.