The UK Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

This page provides an overview for members on the UK Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (“CJRS”). The content herein has been derived entirely from HMRC’s guidance and communications to Chartered Accountants Ireland and information also published on GOV.UK in respect of the CJRS.

A similar page providing guidance on the Coronavirus Self-Employment Income Support Scheme is also available.

The CJRS was first announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 26 March 2020. Budget 2021 further extended the CJRS for a further five months until 30 September 2021.

The Institute will continue to engage with HMRC on our members behalf in respect of COVID-19 supports and will share the most up to date information as it becomes available.

We therefore recommend that you bookmark this page and also regularly check the latest updates section of our COVID-19 hub.

This page was last updated on Monday, 19 July 2021. 

Recent developments and key points

Important key points, updates and developments in the CJRS are as follows:-

• No employer contributions are required beyond employers NIC and pensions in the months of April, May and June 2021. This effectively meant no further change was made to the regime until July 2021;
• Employees received 80 percent of their current salary, capped at £2,500 per month, for hours not worked until 30 June 2021;
• From 1 July 2021, the Government introduced an employer contribution towards the cost of unworked hours of 10 percent in July 2021, 20 percent in August 2021 and 20 percent in September 2021;
• This contribution is in addition to the contribution already required for employers NIC and pensions;
• From 1 July 2021, the level of maximum grant also reduces each month;
• Employees continue to receive 80 percent of their current salary, capped at £2,500 per month, for hours not worked until the end of the scheme on 30 September 2021;
• Employer contributions are a condition of applying for the grant – not paying these will mean the employer will need to repay the whole of the CJRS grant and they may not be able to claim for future CJRS grants.
• Employees should continue to be paid for hours worked as normal by the employer;
• For periods starting on or after 1 May 2021, you can claim for employees who were employed on 2 March 2021, as long as you have made a PAYE RTI submission to HMRC between 20 March 2020 and 2 March 2021, notifying a payment of earnings for that employee;
• From 1 March 2021, how CJRS grants are calculated changed for some variable rate and/or variable hour employees;
• From 1 May 2021, when calculating the average wages for employees who are not on a fixed salary, employers should no longer include periods of statutory sick pay related leave, family related statutory leave, or  reduced rate paid leave following a period of statutory sick pay or family related leave.
• However, if an employee was on one of these types of leave for the entire period used to calculate their average wages, then the employer should continue to include the days and wages related to that leave. 
• Claims for each month must be submitted by 11.59pm on the 14th day after the month end (unless this falls on a weekend in which case the deadline is 11.59pm on the next working day);
• If a monthly claim period is not submitted within the 14 day monthly deadline, HMRC may accept the claim if it is late and there is a reasonable excuse;
• A form is now available to claim reasonable excuse;
• The deadline to amend claims for employees furloughed where there is an underclaim is within 28 calendar days after the month the claim relates to unless this falls on a weekend or bank holiday, in which case the deadline is the next weekday;
• If there has been an overclaim under the CJRS and the employer has not already repaid it, they must notify HMRC and repay the money by the latest of either 90 days from receiving the CJRS grant it was not entitled to or 90 days from the point circumstances changed so that the employer was no longer entitled to keep the CJRS grant;
• Failure to notify HMRC may result in interest and a penalty as well as repayment of the excess CJRS grant;
• HMRC can be advised of overclaims via the employer’s next CJRS online claim;
• If an employer has claimed too much but does not plan to submit further claims, they can let HMRC know and make a repayment online through their card payment service or by bank transfer;
• On a monthly basis HMRC is now publishing the names, an indication of the value of claims and Company Registration Numbers (for those who have one) of employers who make CJRS claims;
• Employers can ask HMRC not to publish their claim details if this could leave individuals at risk of violence or intimidation and the employer is able to provide evidence to support this;
• HMRC will accept applications from agents on behalf of employers not to publish if this is supported by the appropriate evidence;
• Employees are able to check if their employer has made a CJRS claim on their behalf through their online Personal Tax Account;
• The CJRS guidance has been updated multiple times and includes a step-by-step guide for employers. See below for other useful links;
• A calculator is available to help employers work out the relevant percentage of employees' wages to claim and a new template is available from May which can be used to make CJRS claims for 16 or more employees (more on this below); and
• Employers don’t need to place all their employees on full furlough. They can use the CJRS flexibly to bring their employees back to work for some of their usual hours. Employers can claim for a portion of their usual wage costs for the hours spent on furlough.

Templates

If employers want to make CJRS claims for 16 or more employees they can use HMRC’s updated templates, making it easier to add the details of multiple employees. 

If employers are claiming for between 16-99 employees they should use this template, if they are claiming for 100 or more employees they should use one of these templates. You must enter all of the information in the right format before uploading the completed template. 

HMRC has updated these templates to help employers get their claim right the first time and provide all the information needed to ensure their claims aren’t delayed or stopped. For example, if employers can't provide a National Insurance number for an employee, they can now select a reason for this. 

If employers use one of HMRC’s two templates and make a mistake, the file will not be accepted, and mistakes will be highlighted to help them put it right before they can resubmit their claim. 

Mistakes that will be highlighted include if they:   

• input details in the wrong format; 
• give incorrect details; or
• duplicate or fail to give required information.

Please remind employers not to change the format of the template before they submit them, as they won’t be accepted by HMRC’s system.

Agents

HMRC has provided guidance in respect of agents seeking to making CJRS applications on behalf of employers.

Read how to check if you are authorised to complete a CJRS application for a client and also how an agent who is not currently authorised  online can become authorised to do so.

Tax treatment of amounts received

Payments received by a business under the CJRS should be included as a source of taxable income in the financial statements of the relevant business subject to either Income Tax or Corporation Tax, in accordance with normal principles, as these have been made to offset the deductible revenue costs of employees.

Businesses can therefore deduct employment costs as normal when calculating taxable profits for Income Tax and Corporation Tax purposes.

Individuals with employees that are not employed as part of a business (such as nannies or other domestic staff) are not taxable on grants received under the scheme. Domestic staff are subject to Income Tax and National Insurance contributions on their wages as normal.

Contacting HMRC

The contact details for the CJRS are available on GOV.UK. HMRC advice is to only use these contact channels if you cannot get the help you need online.

HMRC expect applications to be processed and claims made within six working days. You are therefore advised not to contact HMRC unless it has been more than 10 working days since the claim was made and you have not received it in that time.

Useful links

Make sure to bookmark the relevant CJRS pages on GOV.UK on your web browser to ensure you’re getting the most up to date information.

Links to the most up to date guidance and related sources of information are provided below:-

• Changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme from July 2021;
• Steps to take before calculating your claim using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme;
• Check if your employer can use the CJRS;
• Step by step guide for employers;
• Claim for wages through the CJRS; and
• Check if you can claim for your employees' wages through the CJRS.

Service availability

Members are also advised to regularly check the availability and any issues affecting the online CJRS portal so that they can provide their clients with the most up to date information.

Queries

If you have a specific query or issue in respect of the CJRS or any other COVID-19 support which HMRC are administering, please check if your query is covered anywhere on GOV.UK or in our hub before contacting UK Taxation Specialist Leontia Doran.