HMRC have announced that their system for applying for the relief grants for furloughed workers opens on Monday 20th April.
They expect you to calculate the value of the average salary for the employees over the last 12 months.
If you are registered for PAYE you or your agent (RHJ if we process your payroll) can apply for you.
Employees do not apply.
From HMRC, they state:
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
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 RHJ Accountants to apply for you
- You will need to tell us 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.
Guidance on GOV.UK is being regularly updated via this link
Who can be furloughed?
Owner-managed businesses (Directors)
You will be furloughing yourself in the understanding is that you do no income generating work for the business. You can continue to run the business from a statutory perspective, for example preparing accounts and returns. Administration, operations and marketing are not permitted.
Employees
To claim you must designate employees as furloughed – paid leave while they cannot work.
Who it includes:
- Employees on any type of employment contract including zero-hours, flexible, part-time or fixed term
- Apprentices (make sure you follow the guidance on continuing apprentice training and NMW)
- Agency workers (including those employed by umbrella companies)
- Office holders (including company directors) – but only on their PAYE income
- Salaried members of Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs).
- Limb (b) workers – ie those on PAYE not those who are self-employed
- Nannies and other domestic staff.
You do not need to furlough all of your employees.
You must furlough an employee for a minimum of 3 weeks.
Whilst furloughed staff can’t do any work for the employer that furloughed them, they can undertake training, work for other employers, work on a self-employed basis or as a volunteer.
Who can NOT be furloughed?
- Deemed employees – those subject to the off-payroll rules in the public sector. These individuals would have to claim based on the non-taxable salary extracted from their PSC.
- Workers engaged under a contract for services, ie sole traders being paid gross via an invoice. These individuals will have to claim under the self-employed support scheme.