Has anybody here furloughed themselves yet?

[OneManBand]

Do you manage your own PAYE or does your accountant do it ? If the latter then they'll probably have the logon.

I have asked my accountant to make a claim for me using their PAYE Online access.

My accountant is a very cautious and conservative dude, and he didn't flag up any concerns around potential misuse of the scheme etc, so I'm happy to proceed.

[jamed]

Did you contract end because of Covid, or is it that you can't find new contracts because of Covid?

Does that really matter?

HMRC states: If you cannot maintain your current workforce because your operations have been severely affected by coronavirus (COVID-19), you can furlough employees and apply for a grant that covers 80% of their usual monthly wage costs, up to £2,500 a month, plus the associated Employer National Insurance contributions and pension contributions (up to the level of the minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contribution) on that subsidised furlough pay.

This is a temporary scheme in place for 4 months starting from 1 March 2020, but it may be extended if necessary and employers can use this scheme anytime during this period. It is designed to help employers whose operations have been severely affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) to retain their employees and protect the UK economy. However, all employers are eligible to claim under the scheme and the government recognises different businesses will face different impacts from coronavirus.

[PerfectStorm]

Did you contract end because of Covid, or is it that you can't find new contracts because of Covid?

The latter.

[Scoooby]

Paying dividends whilst claiming on Job Retention scheme

If you sign up for the Job Retention scheme and then pay yourself a dividend whilst also claiming the salary support (assuming you have sufficient funds within the business) is this likely to cause any issues or be seen as invalidating your claim?

Also if you later decided to liquidate the company with sufficient funds still retained in the company (say via an MVL) would this again cause any retrospective issues?

Total minefield of options and potential issues and complications!

[PerfectStorm]

If you sign up for the Job Retention scheme and then pay yourself a dividend whilst also claiming the salary support (assuming you have sufficient funds within the business) is this likely to cause any issues or be seen as invalidating your claim?

Also if you later decided to liquidate the company with sufficient funds still retained in the company (say via an MVL) would this again cause any retrospective issues?

Total minefield of options and potential issues and complications!

Don't think so.

It's only the coronavirus business loan that is restricted by the reserves you have. The idea of the CJRS is to keep things going as much as possible, at least in terms of your staffing costs. Dividends don't come into it, in the same way as you wouldn't be able to use CJRS income as a dividend payment later.

[Blast]

For the ones who have already applied for the scheme

I don't understand what the claim start and end date should be? It's a separate date from the date "When was this employee furloughed"

[PerfectStorm]

I don't understand what the claim start and end date should be? It's a separate date from the date "When was this employee furloughed"

So that they can curtail a few claims. But the chancellor said you can backdate it to March 2nd, so thats when the furlough happened.

[ladymuck]

I don't understand what the claim start and end date should be? It's a separate date from the date "When was this employee furloughed"

I had a quick squizz at the form and the text says it's the period where you're expecting to make payments to your furloughed employees.

Some of those payments may have already been made, of course.

[Wombat14]

Does that really matter?

HMRC states: If you cannot maintain your current workforce because your operations have been severely affected by coronavirus (COVID-19), you can furlough employees and apply for a grant that covers 80% of their usual monthly wage costs, up to £2,500 a month, plus the associated Employer National Insurance contributions and pension contributions (up to the level of the minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contribution) on that subsidised furlough pay.

This is a temporary scheme in place for 4 months starting from 1 March 2020, but it may be extended if necessary and employers can use this scheme anytime during this period. It is designed to help employers whose operations have been severely affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) to retain their employees and protect the UK economy. However, all employers are eligible to claim under the scheme and the government recognises different businesses will face different impacts from coronavirus.

For what it's worth, on the advice of my accountant I had an online chat with HMRC, who said outright that my PSC can claim against the CJRS (subject to the PAYE conditions). No questions asked about whether or not my current lack of clients pre-dates March. I was and am happy to be entirely transparent - I couldn't give full information in my opening message, because it's limited to 200 characters - but was given the verdict before we got any further than divulging my limited company's name and registered address.

I don't expect anyone to take my word for that, but I will say that the online response from HMRC was more or less immediate so anyone wanting to verify my comments can check them quickly.

[OneManBand]

I had a quick squizz at the form and the text says it's the period where you're expecting to make payments to your furloughed employees.

Some of those payments may have already been made, of course.

My accountant has put in a claim on my behalf starting April 1, ending April 30.
My contract was abruptly terminated on March 31 because of CV.
He said we'll have a chat mid May to decide if we need to claim for May as well.