HMRC Accepts £215m in Furlough Returns

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22 September 2020

£215m of furlough funds have been returned to the government in circumstances where they were mistakenly claimed, or entirely unnecessary.

HMRC have recorded 8,433 employers voluntarily giving up the money assigned for paying a percentage of employees’ salaries during the period of non-working caused by COVID-19.

This month the government said that up to £3.5bn may have been fraudulently or mistakenly claimed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
 

HMRC Appreciate Forthcoming Refunds

HMRC said: “[We] welcome those employers who have voluntarily returned CJRS grants to HMRC because they no longer need the grant, or have realised they've made errors and followed our guidance on putting things right."

Some large corporations– such as John Lewis, Primark, and others like Compass Group– made the decision not to enrol in the service for support. Prime reasons for rejecting this would be good corporate citizenship and lack of necessity.

That is still the case in regards to the Jobs Retention Bonus, another Coronavirus aid scheme that pays firms £1,000 for every employee they bring back from furlough and keep employed until the end of January. This is a move designed to give the job security necessary to kickstart neglected areas of the economy.

Many have called on the government to extend their furlough backing, especially for industries such as the live arts which have in many circumstances still been unable to operate profitably under social restrictions, however at this time there are no plans for continuing or specifically directing this. 

Picture: Some coins and pens on a document.

Article written by Bailey Sparkes | Published 22 September 2020

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