Action – final Job Retention Scheme claims

HMRC are contacting employers with the latest information about the closure of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

The CJRS closed on 30th ‌‌September 2021 and the final deadline for claims was 14‌‌th October 2021.

What you need to do now:

• if claims for September need to be amended, this must be done by Thursday‌‌ ‌28‌‌th October 2021.
• keep records for six years supporting the grants claimed, in case HMRC need to check them
• include grants as income on the company tax return, partnership tax return or the self-employment individual tax return for the tax year of your reciept, depending on your business type
• if you want to see other support that may be available:

Reporting coronavirus grants on your tax return

Grants to support businesses and self-employed people during the pandemic are taxable.

If you claimed CJRS grants, or other COVID grants, they need to be included as income on the tax return as well as some other COVID grants they might have received.

Depending on their business type this needs to be reported as income on the company tax return (CT600), partnership return (SA800) or the self-employment pages of the individual tax return (SA103).

Frequently asked questions about the CJRS

Everything to know about CJRS can be found on GOV‌‌.UK by searching ‘Job Retention Scheme’, but here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions.

What if my client has missed the deadline to claim?

HMRC may accept a claim made after the deadline if:

• there is a reasonable excuse for failing to make the claim in time – despite taking care to do so, and
• the claim was submitted as soon as able

Examples of reasonable excuses can be found on GOV‌‌.UK:

What too much has claimed in error?

If you have claimed too much in CJRS grants and have not already repaid the overclaimed amount, then let HMRC know and make a repayment online by card or bank transfer – go to ‘pay Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme grants back’ on GOV‌‌.UK. 

You must tell HMRC and repay the money by the latest of whichever date below applies:

• 90 days from receiving the CJRS money you’re not entitled to
• 90 days from the point circumstances changed so that you were no longer entitled to keep the CJRS grant.

If you don’t, you may have to pay interest and a penalty as well as repaying the excess CJRS grant:

What if you haven’t claimed enough?

If you made a mistake in their last claim for September 2021 that means you received too little money, you will need to amend the claim by Thursday‌‌ ‌28th October 2021.

To find out how:

PAYadvice.UK 19/10/2021