Job Retention Scheme – Update
Revised cut-off date
Yesterday HMRC updated its published guidance to state that the ‘cut-off’ date for eligibility for the Job Retention Scheme has been changed from 28 February 2020 (as previously announced) to 19 March 2020.
The 19 March is the day before the Job Retention Scheme was announced by the Chancellor, and is the latest date the government feels that the eligibility date can be – which seems logical.
The eligibility date has been revised in an attempt to rectify some of the issues where employees had commenced employment with an employer post 28 February 2020.
It is very important to note that in order for an employee to be eligible, they must have been on the employer’s PAYE payroll before or on 19 March 2020, and notified to HMRC on an RTI submission on or before 19 March 2020.
As we have previously advised, we would strongly suggest seeking employment law advice when considering use of the scheme, and especially so for the more complex issues such as rehiring.
The updated published guidance on the scheme can be found here here (for employers) and here (for employees).
Further guidance on how to claim
We received an email from HMRC yesterday evening containing further guidance as to how claims for the Job Retention Scheme claim can be made.
The email stated the following:
“How to claim”
As you prepare to make a claim, please note:
- the online claim service will be launched on GOV.UK 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
- claims will be paid within 6 working days; you should not contact us unless it is absolutely necessary – any queries should be directed to your agent, representative or our webchat service
- we cannot answer any queries from employees – they will need to raise these with you, as their employer, directly.
Information you will need before you make a claim
In addition to the information in our previous email, 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, you can do so now, or by going to GOV.UK and searching for ‘PAYE Online for employers’
- the following information for each furloughed employee you will be claiming for:
- Name
- National Insurance number.
- Claim period and claim amount.
- 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.”
Salary sacrifice arrangements
Rules came into force from 6 April 2017 that largely withdrew the income tax and NIC savings of providing employees with benefits through salary sacrifice schemes. Some transitional provisions were announced at the time, some of which continue until 6 April 2021.
Examples of benefits that these transitional provisions related to include:
- the provision of a car with emissions of more than 75g CO2/km,
- living accommodation, or
- school fees.
These transitional rules meant that unless there was a modification to an existing scheme, the pre-April 2017 benefits would be retained.
In the context of COVID-19, HMRC have updated their relevant guidance to state that “ An arrangement is not regarded as varied if the amendment is caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19)”.
If we can help and advise you in any way, please get in touch with your usual RRL Team member, we are working remotely to keep our staff and clients safe and our telephone contact details can be found here. We will respond to emails as usual.
We will provide further updates, as and when further announcements are made and more details are released.