CORONAVIRUS JOB RETENTION SCHEME UPDATE: LAUNCHING 20th APRIL 2020

by | Apr 16, 2020 | Corona

HMRC have stated that the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme claims service will launch on 20th April 2020, and have provided an update on how the claims process will work, and what information Employers and/or their Payroll Agents will require to make a successful claim.

Under the Scheme, businesses are able to apply for government grants for employees’ salaries up to 80% of an employee’s regular wage (limited to £2,500 per month) for 3 months form 1 March 2020.

CLAIMS PROCESS

The process for making the claim will be an online service which will up and running on 20th April 2020.  Although we don’t know exactly what this online service will look like yet, HMRC have indicated what information Employers and/or Payroll Agents will require in order to make a successful claim.  This includes;

  • 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’
  • your employer PAYE reference number
  • your Self Assessment Unique Taxpayer Reference or Corporation Tax Unique Taxpayer Reference or Company Registration Number
  • the number of employees being furloughedthe relevant bank account number and sort code
  • 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).
  • 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.

HMRC have advised that claims will be paid within 6 working days and that they cannot answer any queries from employees – they will need to raise these with their employer, directly.

CALCULATING GRANTS UNDER THE CORONAVIRUS JOB RETENTION SCHEME

The calculation process for these grants can be very complicated, and impacted by a number of variances.  There will be different calculations for employees with fixed pay and those with variable pay.  Furthermore, individual employees’ calculations will vary based on their pay period characteristics.  Calculations will also need to be performed to determine claims for both Employer National Insurance and minimum Employer Pension Contributions under automatic enrolment.

WBV PAYROLL CLIENTS

If WBV process your payroll then we will be able to make the claim on your behalf, will carry out all required calculations, and make the required submission, based on the information provided to us by our clients.

CLIENTS WHO RUN THEIR OWN PAYROLL

Should you need any assistance, WBV will be here to support you through the claims process.

HOW WBV ARE PREPARING FOR THE LAUNCH OF HMRC’S ONLINE CLAIM SERVICE

Given that HMRC’s online service is due to go live on 20th April, and with the majority of clients’ monthly pay dates being at the end of April, we anticipate there being significant pressure on our payroll team to collate all relevant information, perform the various calculations needed, and process the claim submissions as quickly as possible, to ensure that grant fund payments are not delayed.

With this in mind, we have made arrangements for additional resources to be available within our Payroll Team to help with the significant increase in workload over this period.  Rest assured, that we will be doing everything we can to process clients’ claims as timely as possible.  Please help our Payroll Team with this process, by providing the information detailed above as early as you can.

If you have any queries with regards the above, then please contact us HERE

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