I hope you’re keeping well and looking after yourself.

Please see below for this week’s updates relating to the coronavirus.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)

There has been an important change to the scheme regarding employee eligibility:

  • You can claim for employees that were employed as of 19 March 2020 and were on your PAYE payroll on or before that date; this means that you will have made an RTI submission notifying HMRC of payment of that employee on or before 19 March 2020
  • Employees that were employed as of 28 February 2020 and on payroll (i.e. notified to HMRC on an RTI submission on or before 28 February) and were made redundant or stopped working for you after that, and prior to 19 March 2020, can also qualify for the scheme if you re-employ them and put them on furlough.More Details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme#employees-you-can-claim-for

How to claim

As you prepare to make a claim, please note:

  • The online claim service will be launched on the Government website on 20‌‌ April 2020 – please do not try to access it before this date as it won’t be available
  • The only way to make a claim is online – the service should be simple to use and any support you need available on GOV.UK; this will include help with calculating the amount you can claim
  • You can make the claim yourself even if you usually use an agent. We will be making the claim on behalf of all of our payroll clients
  • Claims will be paid within 6 working days; you should not contact HMRC unless it is absolutely necessary – any queries should be directed to your agent, representative or our webchat service
  • HMRC cannot answer any queries from employees – they will need to raise these with their employer, directly.

Information you will need before you make a claim – if we are not doing this for you 

You will need to have the following before 20‌‌ April 2020:

  • a Government Gateway (GG) ID and password – if you don’t already have a GG account, you can apply for one online, or by going to GOV.UK and searching for ‘HMRC services: sign in or register’
  • be enrolled for PAYE online – if you aren’t registered yet, go to GOV.UK and search for ‘PAYE Online for employers’The following information for each furloughed employee you will be claiming for: 1. Name.
    2. National Insurance number
    3. Claim period and claim amount.
    4. PAYE/employee number (optional).
  • if you have fewer than 100 furloughed staff – you will need to input information directly into the system for each employee
  • if you have 100 or more furloughed staff – you will need to upload a file with information for each employee; we will accept the following file types: .xls .xlsx .csv .ods.

If you want an agent to act for you 

Please note:

  • agents authorised to act for you on PAYE matters can make the claim on your behalf using their ID and password
  • you will need to tell your agent which UK bank account you want the grant to be paid into, in order to ensure funds are paid as quickly as possible to you.

You should retain all records and calculations in respect of your claims. 

Please note, if we process your payroll for you, we will do the furlough process for you.  If we do not do your payroll then please feel free to ask for help if you need it.

Business Rates Grant Update

  • The grants for Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) grants have now started being distributed.
  • These grants will have to be applied for from your local council.
  • Some councils are saying payments will take about 21 days, whereas some are paying out the next day.
  • Please note, the grant is classed as income and is subject the relevant taxes.

If you require any support with any aspect of claiming the grant, please let us know. 

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)

  • Some of our clients have now been successful in their application with these loans.
  • Most banks are asking for a cashflow and management accounts.
  • If you are a limited company and the bank asks you to be a personal guarantee on the loan, think carefully before agreeing to this.  Banks have been told this is not fair by the government, but some banks continue to request this.

If you need any assistance with your application, or need help completing the application, please let us know. 

Finally, yet more scams!!!
While most of the world is pulling together during this difficult time, there will always be people who want to exploit the situation.  Please, please be really careful when it comes to any part of your banking, or when clicking on links in emails!  I’ve had 17 emails this week offering me free delivery and vouchers from Tesco – I didn’t click as I wasn’t sure “teddybear.eecs@….” really worked at Tesco!

If you’re ever unsure, please feel free to check with us.

Stay safe!

A close up photo of a blue calculator displaying the word 'VAT', whilst sat on some files