Any business that has claimed under the CJRS or SEISS grant schemes are urged to doublecheck entitlements as the 90-day period to notify HMRC of overclaims is now law ...
- Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)
- Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS)
- Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme
- Coronavirus Business Support Grants
HMRC has published repayment guidance as well as factsheets about penalty rules for CJRS and SEISS. The law is very clear that taxpayers must notify HMRC if they have overclaimed CJRS or SEISS, and this has to be done within 90-days of the Royal Assent of the Finance Act 2020, (the 20th October 2020) or from the date of receipt of the grant, whichever is the latest.
Penalties are based on the usual 'failure to notify' penalties, but there are additional provisions meaning that if a taxpayer knew they were not entitled at the time they received it, any overpayment must be notified or repayed in full by the end of the 90-day period. Any failure to notify will be treated as deliberate and concealed and the penalty could be as much as the grant that was originally received.
Where SEISS is concerned, if you weren't adversely affected by Coronavirus, did not continue self-employment in 2019/20 because your business was incorporated, or there was no intention to trade in 2020/21 then you have overclaimed.
And for CJRS, if the grants were not used for the purpose they were indended, there were calculation errors, or employees who were supposed to be furloughed continued to work, an overclaim has been made and repayments will need to be made.
If you feel inspired to find out more about anything I've said here, do call me on 01908 774320 or leave a comment below and I'll be in touch as soon as I can.