Claims for September must be submitted by 14 October 2021 and any amendments must be made by 28 October 2021.
For claims relating to 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.
Members are reminded to notify (if not done already) their clients and their obligations to keep a copy of all records for six years, including:
- the amount claimed and claim period for each employee
- the claim reference number for your records
- your calculations in case HMRC needs more information about your claim
- usual hours worked, including any calculations that were required, for employees you flexibly furloughed
- actual hours worked for employees you flexibly furloughed.
Advice for accountants
ACCA members are strongly advised to review the suite of technical factsheets Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation (PCRT), especially Helpsheet C dealing with errors. There is also new interim guidance drawn up to help members working with clients who have made claims under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help them comply with relevant professional obligations (see below for details).
Full guidance is available.
Professional accountants should consider the following:
- ensure that clients understand the rules relating to the furlough claim and have systems in place to ensure compliance
- if they become aware that an employer-client is breaching the rules (for example an employee is carrying on work while on furlough), advise the client accordingly and ask the client to rectify the error. A member should keep sufficient appropriate records of discussions and advice given
- if the client rectifies the error (and repays the ‘overclaimed grant’), the accountant is free to continue to act for the client
- however, should the client ignore such advice and guidance, the accountant must:
- cease to act
- inform HMRC of their withdrawal
- submit a suspicious activity report to the National Crime Agency (see ACCA’s guidance on making a suspicious activity report)
- consider carefully their response to any professional enquiry letter (also known as professional clearance letter).
