HMRC announced plans this week to open the online Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) service on 20 April with the first claims being paid 10 days later.
Since the scheme was announced on 20 March, many business owners have been concerned whether the HMRC will pay CJRS grants soon enough to save cash-starved businesses
before it is too late.
Yesterday, HMRC chief executive Jim Harra told the Treasury select committee the CJRS will be ready to go a week on Monday. His announcement was accompanied by an HMRC note to tax agents setting out further details:
- The scheme is due to go live on 20 April with first payments being made 10 days later
- Future claims will be paid within four to six days
- The online CJRS service is now undergoing beta testing with a group of selected employers
- Applicants will access the system using their current government gateway login
- Further guidance will be issued by HMRC this week (week commencing 13 April) explaining on how to use the
system
- Following the initial backdated claims, claims can be made no more than 14 days before payrolls are run but will be accepted for the different pay
periods
- Tax agents who are authorised to act for PAYE matters will be able to file claims on behalf of their clients
- File-only agents and payroll bureaus will not be able to access the service “due to data protection
reasons”.
Now being tested
In yesterday’s meeting, Harra told MPs the basic IT service went live last weekend. On Wednesday morning (8 April), it was then opened up for live testing with a
“small number of invited employers who are today going to be using it in earnest”.
“We have tested its capacity and we are confident that it will be able to cope with the very large volume of claims that we expect to receive,” Harra said. “We have
scaled system to cope with 2m PAYE schemes and claims in first 10 days,” Harra said.
With a design capacity of 450,000 users per hour, HMRC thinks it is ready to meet the initial influx of backdated claims. Anyone who has tried to book a supermarket
delivery recently will be familiar with the queueing that happens when demand is high, Harra said, but with the system capacity in place, that should lessen before too long.
Apart from around 600 PAYE scheme operators who couldn't file electronically, the new claim portal will be available to any PAYE scheme employer. However, those who pay
employees through payroll bureaus will not be able get the processor to claim for them.
“These employers will need to have own online credentials so they can process these claims themselves,” Harra
said.
Support pack for claims due next week
Harra admitted that the biggest challenge would be helping the maximum number of employers to serve themselves online rather than having to contact HMRC for advice in
large numbers. “Clearly, if very large volumes of employers have to contact us in the concentrated period of just a few days, then we will really struggle to provide the kind of service that we would want to,” he said.
According to Harra, 2,000 HMRC staff will be redeployed for CJRS support, with another 3,500 staff from other areas who could be called on if needed. HMRC is also
working with professional bodies such as the CIOT and ICAEW to provide support and help to their clients.
Following guidance released on 26 March and 4 April, HMRC is putting together a support pack on how to compile and upload claims. However, he added, “If a million employers try to ring us all on the same day, it will not be possible [to provide] enough resources to handle
all of those calls at the same time.”
In addition to the printed guidance, HMRC are holding a webinar on the CJRS scheme taking place on Wednesday 15 April.
Harra also confirmed that HMRC would be setting up an online "whistle-blower" service for workers to report employers who abuse the
system.
For clients of Guilford Accounting for whom we process your payroll please contact Sue in the usual way if you need any
assistance.
Noel Guilford