The portal is open for business and has a capability of 450,000 applicants per hour, I have been filing since 9am this morning for those clients we currently hold HR Payroll Authority for and all claims have been acknowledged. I know it is only the first day, but well done HMRC.
A note on the procedures: You will be asked to set up a government gateway (if you do not already hold a GG) there is a short cut from the link below directing you to the Government Gateway for CJRS. This takes under 5 minutes and requires only an active current email address.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wages-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme
On the screen go to the hyperlink PAYE Online from the first requirement of What you’ll need to make a claim. Then from the next page select “PAYE for Employers” commence setting up your Government Gateway with a few simple steps. After completion Log in to your gateway, select “Organisation”, on the next page select “PAYE”, then select “I have a PAYE Scheme”, using the details we provide, enter your tax district, your PAYE Scheme number and finally your PAYE Office number. HMRC will then connect you to your scheme, this may take a short while as they are under enormous pressure at present, once linked follow the links to claim CJRS.
Please ensure you gain your own GG as HMRC track IP addresses and we are unable to use your GG, remember also if prompted to register for PAYE online, this is already in place (RTI filing for your Directors Salary). you are simply gaining access to an existing PAYE Scheme through your GG.
What you’ll need to make a claim:
To be registered for PAYE online
Your UK bank account number and sort code
Your employer PAYE scheme reference number
The number of employees being furloughed
Each employee’s National Insurance number
Each employee’s payroll or employee number (optional)
The start date and end date of the claim
The full amount you’re claiming for including employer National Insurance contributions and employer minimum pension contributions
Your phone number
Contact name
You also need to provide either:
your name (or the employer’s name if you’re an agent)
your Corporation Tax unique taxpayer reference
your Self Assessment unique taxpayer reference
your company registration number.
The item highlighted in red can cause concern as the Employer NIC and any pension provision is awarded within the claim, but has to be entered separately, please ensure you contact us for the correct values to enter.
All the above relating to your PAYE Scheme we can provide from our software, and the rest relates to items you have free access to. Without Authority to act we are precluded from making the claim on your behalf.
Single Directors with no staff requiring us to act, please notify us by email and we can apply for HR Payroll authority, there will be a delay until authority is granted, therefore we strongly recommend seeking your own Government Gateway and claim for payment through the CJRS portal, to speed up the process.
Some notes on HMRC’s algorithms for the security of funding; they have said they will not refer back to RTI filings for evidence, be aware that overstatement of salary will not be tolerated, also whilst furloughed with a CJRS application you will be able to seek gainful income from other sources. However they will be diligent on the aspect of “Job Retention” and require that you take up your position when the lockdown eases.
You are not permitted to “make money” for your organisation linked or associated with your organisation, or to provide services linked or associated with your organisation. This does not preclude working for an entirely unrelated company, but you must declare your position and complete a “Statement C” on accepting other work or remuneration.
Please be aware that they will match online corporation tax filings and wage expenses recorded, for a quick analysis of the 80% value you have claimed.
SELF-EMPLOYED
Self-Employed workers are being contacted currently, details from previous tax returns (some will be averaged over previous years) most cases will use a single year filing (2018/19) used to assess your 80% of earned income available from the Government.
