Payroll
...employees will have more visibility of their employer’s actions and could therefore aid HMRC in tackling abuse.
This list is not exhaustive. Along with other stakeholders the CIPP policy team has lobbied HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and government in a bid to reconsider the unachievable deadline. Guidance has been updated to allow employers additional time to make claims in the event they make an underclaim. On Friday 13 November, guidance was updated in recognition of this, with HMRC advising that it “may accept a claim made after the relevant deadline if you had a reasonable excuse for failing to make a claim in time and you then claimed without delay after the excuse no longer applied.” For claims relating to periods after 1 November 2020, employers are able to increase the amount of their claim if made within 28 calendar days after the month to which the claim relates. If this would fall on a weekend or non-working day, then it moves to the next working day. Relationship with previous CJRS Employees on any type of contract can be furloughed, including agency workers and single company directors so long as all eligibility criteria are met. There are other significant changes. Under the previous CJRS flex rules, a strict limit prevented the employer from claiming for more employees beyond those who had been claimed for under the first phase of the CJRS. This limit has not been carried forward from 1 November; indeed, an employer claiming under the extended rules does not need to have claimed under any previous CJRS, and the employees being claimed for do not have to have been subject to a previous period of furlough. Claim amounts For employees who were previously eligible and included in a CJRS claim, the
CJRS TUPE Initially, the information provided
❍ the employer made a valid CJRS claim for a claim period ending any time on or before 31 October 2020. For periods starting from 1 November 2020, the reference period for all other employees is the last pay period ending on or before 30 October 2020. ● Variable pay employees – For employees who were on the payroll on 19 March 2020, and who received a payment of earnings during the tax year 2019/20, which was reported to HMRC in a RTI FPS on or before 19 March 2020, the reference pay will use: ❍ the wages earned in the corresponding calendar period in the tax year 2019/20 ❍ the average wages payable in the tax year 2019/20. The same applies for employees for whom there was a valid CJRS claim ending any time on or before 31 October 2020. Claims for all other employees should be based on 80% of the average wages payable between 6 April 2020 (or, if later, the date the employment started) and the day before they are furloughed on or after 1 November 2020. Recording keeping As previously, written confirmation needs to be issued to the employee detailing the agreement that has been reached between the employer and employee. This needs to be re-issued with each variant and retained for five years. Records needed to support the claim, such as hours worked, or hours recorded as furloughed, should be retained for six years. Annual pay periods Employees who are paid using an annual pay period will be eligible for CJRS payment where made after 20 March and not later than 30 October and all other eligibility criteria are met. Director-owned companies are subject to the non-working rules as with any other employee; however, they are permitted to carry out statutory duties as required of their role.
suggested that for claim periods after 1 November 2020, a new employer could claim in respect of the employees of a previous business if TUPE (transfer of an undertaking, protection of employment) PAYE business succession rules applied to the change in ownership, and they had transferred on or before 1 September 2020. However, this incorrect information has since been amended. Employees transferred from their old employer to their new employer on or after 1 September 2020 will be eligible for the scheme. Employees have to have been employed by either their old or new employer on 30 October 2020 and been included in a PAYE RTI submission to HMRC whether by their old or new employer between 20 March 2020 and 30 October 2020. Notice periods Claims made for notice periods have always been possible while the employee is serving a period of contractual or statutory notice, and this continues in November. However, from 1 December this is no longer the case so that employees serving a period of notice cannot be included within a CJRS claim. Employers named HMRC has advised that it will publish the names and company registration numbers of those employers that are making claims for CJRS grants from 1 December onwards. Could this be in an attempt to reduce the fraudulent claims that have been seen previously as employees will have more visibility of their employer’s actions and could therefore aid HMRC in tackling abuse? Trick or treat? It has been a long year, and the profession has battled to keep up with hundreds of iterations of guidance, some of which has been published in advance but with much delivered at the twelfth hour. It would seem likely that this pattern is set to continue as we see the latest iteration of CJRS. n
payment claimable is as follows. ● Fixed rate employees – The
reference period is the last pay period ending on or before 19 March 2020 for employees who either: ❍ were on the payroll on 19 March 2020 and received a payment of earnings in the tax year 2019/20 which was reported to HMRC in a RTI full payment submission (FPS) on or before 19 March 2020
17
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 66 | December 2020 - January 2021
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker