UK Government contacts employers with advice on how to claim
THE UK Government has contacted employers to confirm that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will go live on Monday, April 20.
It said claims made through the service will be paid within six working days, and all claims should be made through the gov.uk website. In order to make a claim operators will need to register for a Government Gateway account and PAYE Online. Both of these are accessible via the gov.uk website.
Ahead of the launch there are several pieces of information operators should ensure they have to hand in order to claim for furloughed employees.
When the Job Retention Scheme website goes live it will allow companies to claim for up to 80% of the wage costs of any staff placed on furlough due to the coronavirus pandemic – up to £2500 a month per employee as well as the associated Employer National Insurance and pension contributions.
Grants will be distributed by the UK Government covering these costs and backdated to March 1.
In order to make a claim operators will need to provide HMRC with:
- their employer PAYE reference number
- the number of employees being furloughed
- National Insurance Numbers for the employees on furlough
- Names of the employees on furlough
- Payroll/works number for the employees on furlough
- their Self Assessment Unique Taxpayer Reference or Corporation Tax Unique Taxpayer Reference or Company Registration Number
- the claim period (start and end date)
- amount claimed (per the minimum length of furloughing of three consecutive weeks)
- their bank account number and sort code
- their contact name
- their phone number
Employers are able to claim for any employees that were on their company’s PAYE payroll on or before March 19 of this year and were furloughed any time between February 28 and March 19.
If an employee was made redundant on or after February 28, they can be re-hired and furloughed and 80% of their wage claimed for through the scheme. Employees can be placed on furlough multiple times, but each time must be for a minimum of three consecutive weeks.
