End of furlough set for 30 September

The CJRS is due to end on 30 September 2021. For claims relating to August and September 2021, the government will pay 60% of wages up to a maximum cap of £1,875 for the hours the employee is on furlough.

Claims for September must be submitted by 14 October 2021 and any amendments must be made by 28 October 2021.

Claims for furlough days in August 2021 must be made by 14 September 2021.

Claims can be made directly to HMRC or via accountants and tax agents. Once a claim has been submitted, the employer will be given a claim reference number. HMRC will then check that the claim is correct and pay the claim amount by BACs into the employer’s bank account within six working days.

Employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) are also payable on the full amount paid to the employee. If you have submitted a claim for the employer NICs and pension contributions, then the full amount claimed in respect of these must be paid or you will need to repay the money to HMRC.

When the scheme closes at the end of September, you must decide to either:

bring your employees back to work on their agreed terms and conditions;

terminate their employment (normal redundancy rules apply to furloughed employees); and

agree with employees any changes to terms and conditions of employment (rules for contractual changes apply to furloughed employees).

When employers are making decisions about how and when to end furlough arrangements, equality and discrimination laws will apply in the usual way.

Payments received under the scheme are to offset the deductible revenue costs of employees. They must be included as income when calculating taxable profits for income tax and corporation tax purposes.

Businesses can deduct employment costs as normal when calculating taxable profits for income tax and corporation tax purposes.