Much tighter timescales for submitting a furlough claim with HMRC have been announced. In short, the claim has to be submitted within two weeks of the end of the previous calendar month unless there is a reasonable excuse for failing to make a claim in time.

Between the dates of 1 July 2020-31 October 2020, all claims must be submitted by 30 November 2020. Any claims from 1 November 2020 onwards must be submitted by 11.59pm 14 calendar days after the month you’re claiming for. If this time falls on the weekend or a bank holiday, then claims should be submitted on the next working day.

What are the New Timescales?

To summarise, the new deadlines for submitting a claim are as follows:

What Counts as a Reasonable Excuse for Missing A Deadline?

The HMRC guidance states that the following examples may amount to a reasonable excuse for missing the deadline:

• your partner or another close relative died shortly before the claim deadline
• you had an unexpected stay in hospital that prevented you from dealing with your claim
• you had a serious or life-threatening illness, including Coronavirus related illnesses, which prevented you from making your claim (and no one else could claim for you)
• a period of self-isolation prevented you from making your claim (and no one else could make the claim for you)
• your computer or software failed just before or while you were preparing your online claim
• service issues with HMRC online services prevented you from making your claim
• a fire, flood or theft prevented you from making your claim
• postal delays that you could not have predicted prevented you from making your claim
• delays related to a disability prevented you from making your claim
• a HMRC error prevented you from making your claim

For further information on the Furlough Scheme or regarding the new timescales, please contact Charlie Wood, Associate, on 0161 475 7673 or email [email protected]