New Guidance on Making Late and Amended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Claims
In what might be the last update on this topic, HMRC have published new guidance on making late or amended claims under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).
The CJRS closed on 30 September 2021 and the deadlines for making late claims or amendments to existing claims have now passed. HMRC has now however, released further guidance on making late claims or late amendments to claims under the CJRS; and the circumstances in which these may be accepted.
The guidance states that HMRC will only accept late claims if the employer can demonstrate that it has:
- taken reasonable care to try to claim on time
- a reasonable excuse
- claimed as soon as the reasonable excuse no longer applies
The guidance states that once an employer is ready to make a late claim or late amendment, they should:
- check they have a reasonable excuse
- make sure they have all the information needed to process a claim
- contact HMRC's helpline to check with an adviser whether or not they can claim
If the reasonable excuse is accepted, the HMRC adviser will process the employer's claim over the telephone.
The guidance includes a list of example excuses which it might consider reasonable, including:
- the death of a close partner or relative shortly before the original claim deadline
- unexpected stays in hospital
- computer or software failures
- HMRC service issues or errors
Read the guidance in full.
For legal advice on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, please contact Nick Murrell in our Employment Law team on 07500 009 162, or please complete the form below.