The government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) closed on 30 September and the final deadline for claims was 14 October. If you have been claiming this grant for your business, there are several actions that may need to be taken.
- Note that last date to amend claims for September is Thursday 28 October.
- Ensure that you keep records supporting your grant claims for six years, in case HMRC needs to check them.
- Include your CJRS grants (or any other relevant grants you’ve received) as income on your company tax return, partnership tax return or if self-employed on your own tax return for the tax year of receipt.
Here we consider some frequently asked questions about the CJRS:
What if I’ve missed the deadline to claim?
HMRC may accept a claim that’s made after the deadline if both of these conditions are met:
- you have a reasonable excuse for failing to make the claim in time – despite taking care to do so
- you submitted your claim as soon as you were able to
Examples of what may be accepted as ‘reasonable excuses’ can be found on GOV.UK here.
What if I’ve claimed too much in error?
If you’ve claimed too much in CJRS grants and have not already repaid the overclaimed amount, you can let HMRC know and make a repayment online here.
Please note that you must inform HMRC and repay the money by the latest of whichever of these dates applies:
• 90 days from receiving the CJRS money you’re not entitled to
• 90 days from the point at which circumstances changed so that you were no longer entitled to keep the CJRS grant
If you don’t, you may have to pay interest and a penalty as well as repaying the excess CJRS grant. Further information can be found here. 
What if I haven’t claimed enough?
If you made a mistake in your last claim for September that means you received too little money, you’ll need to amend it by Thursday 28 October. Information on how to do this can be found here.