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Background to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic produced a number of emergency measures for employers to recognise. However without doubt, the most important was the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) which provided significant Government support, seeking to ensure that employers could continue to make payments to employees who had to be furloughed. It was important to recognise that much of the CJRS qualification criteria was based on cliff-edge tests ie where the employer either did or did not qualify for CJRS support, depending on the precise facts relating to each employee (no ‘bending’ of the rules was intended to be possible). Most employer claims were processed by HMRC quickly on a ‘pay now check later’ basis. This guidance note focuses on the compliance activities undertaken by HMRC, ie where the department has subsequently reviewed, and challenged retrospectively, employers’ CJRS claims.

Simon’s Taxes A8.201–A8.204 provides further detailed guidance on how the CJRS operated. The GOV.UK site may also be provide historical reference material, including Claim for wages through the Coronavirus Job Retention