Government guidance was updated yesterday to set out examples of where employers may have a “reasonable excuse” for submitting Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) claims outside of the deadline. Click here to read the guidance.
The claims deadlines have become more strict under the most recent version of the CJRS. Claims made from 1 November 2020 must be submitted by no later than 11:59pm, 14 calendar days after the month you are claiming for. Where claim deadlines fall on a weekend or bank holiday, the claim must be submitted the next working day. The guidance sets out the deadlines clearly as follows:
HMRC may accept a claim after the deadline where there is a “reasonable excuse” for failing to make the claim in time. However, you would also need to show that you took reasonable care to submit the claim in time and that, if unable to do so, the claim was submitted without delay after the excuse no longer applied.
The guidance now contains examples of what HMRC may regard as a “reasonable excuse” including excuses such as; death of a partner or close relative shortly before the deadline, unexpected hospital stays, serious or life threatening illness and computer or software failures. The full list can be seen in the updated guidance referred to above.
