If you have made an error when claiming for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) or received an overpayment this must be reported and paid back to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) by 20 October 2020.
In order to avoid a fine, you must notify HMRC by the latest of either:
- 90 days after the date you received the grant you were not entitled to;
- 90 days after the date you received the grant that you were no longer entitled to keep because your circumstances changed; or
- 20 October 2020.
To correct the claim, you can either inform HMRC as part of you next online tax claim, resulting in your new claim being reduced (businesses need to keep a record of the adjustment for six years for tax purposes), or you can contact HMRC to directly pay the money back if you are not submitting another claim.
In order to do the latter, you must obtain a payment reference number and pay HMRC back within 30 days. This can be done via online or telephone banking, CHAPS and Bacs, as well as by card. Details of how to repay HMRC can be found by clicking here.
If you do repay any overclaimed grants, this will also prevent any potential tax liability in respect of the overpayment of the CJRS.