Job Retention Scheme Portal to go live on 20 April 2020

HMRC has announced today that a new online portal service will be launched on 20 April 2020 to allow businesses to make claims relating to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) for furloughed workers.

On the 20 March 2020 The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, called upon HMRC to assist with delivering financial support to UK businesses and its population, during the outbreak of Covid-19, with one of the important measures introduced being the CJRS. HMRC has now confirmed the intended launch date and explained that claims will need to be made online only, using the new portal.

HMRC has advised that it is working as relentlessly to deliver this service, which will allow businesses to make a claim for 80% of furloughed employees pay, up to a maximum cap of £ 2,500 per eligible employee.

Any businesses and agents that are authorised to act on behalf of clients for PAYE matters online with HMRC will have the ability to claim. Conversely, file only agents and Payroll Bureaus will not be able to access the service for data protection reasons.

HMRC still requires the support of file only agents, even though they will not be able to access the service themselves. These agents are being asked to help their clients, as it is highly likely that they will have access to information that their clients will need in order to make their claims.

The information that businesses will need to provide in relation to each furloughed employee is:                                                                                            

• National Insurance number 
• Salary, National Insurance and Pension Contribution information to allow businesses to correctly calculate the amount that they can claim from HMRC

If you would like any assistance with your CJRS claim, please contact us and the TLA Team will be happy to assist you.