TTR Barnes

Business owners have received the latest guidance from HMRC on how to claim for furloughed employees. HMRC has directly emailed with the following update on employee eligibility how to access the system and the information applicants will need in order to progress their claim.  This bulletin breaks down the key information in this guidance.

Employee Eligibility

Business owners can claim for employees that were employed as of 19 March 2020 and were on their PAYE payroll on or before that date; this means that they 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 after that, and prior to 19 March 2020, can also qualify for the scheme if they are now re-employed and placed on furlough.

How to claim

The online portal will be opened on 20th April 2020 and will be the only channel through which to claim.  It can be used either by an agent or the business owner themselves.

Claims will be paid within 6 working days

Pressure on HMRC communication channels is high at the moment, as much as possible try to use advice from your agent, representative or the HMRC webchat service. Direct queries from employees will not be dealt with as they should be raised directly with the business owner.

Required Information to make a Claim

The following information is required to make a claim:

• You must have 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’
• You must be enrolled for PAYE online – if you aren’t registered yet, you can do so now, or by going to GOV.UK and searching for ‘PAYE Online for employers’
• You should have 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)

For fewer than 100 staff then each employee information will need to be inputted directly.  Over 100 furloughed staff and a file such as .xls, .xlsx, .csv and .ods can be uploaded.

Using Appointed Agents

If your accountant or other representative act as your authorised agent for PAYE then they can make the claim on your behalf using their ID and password.  Your agent will need to know the bank account details into which you wish the grant to be paid, in order to ensure that funds reach you as quickly as possible.  If we are acting as your agent, please contact your account representative or julie.bryan@ttrbarnes.com or terry.wright@ttrbarnes.com for assistance with this.*

In all instances, all records and calculations should be kept in respect of your claims.

*Please note that this service is additional and a fee will be incurred. 

All information published is for general consumption and should not constitute financial advice.  All coronavirus updates are being written and distributed as timely as possible for the convenience of our audiences and will be monitored regularly for any updates and/or corrections.  Individual circumstances will vary and professional advice should always be sought on all matters before action is taken.