There have been lots of updates and changes to how both furlough and the self employments grants will work since the announcement of the second lockdown which has led to confusion and reports constantly changing. From what we currently know here are what we believe to be the key information points, important dates and updates so far;
Furlough
You can claim furlough for employees that were not previously registered on the scheme but have been furloughed due to the second lockdown restrictions.
A furlough claim must be submitted within the two weeks after the end of the calendar month that the employee was furloughed. For example if an employees is furloughed in November 2020, you must submit your claim to HMRC by the 14th December 2020 and so on.
There are some reasonable excuses for late claims but they centre around incapacity due to death of a relative or chronic illness of the employer.
Self employment grants
An email is due to be sent from the week commencing 23/11/2020 to all those who qualified for the previous grants to log on and confirm they are claiming this third grant.
Payments should start to be made from the 30/11/2020
This will cover the three month period from November 2020 to January 2021. Another claims process will then begin in February 2021 for the final payment.
Those who did not make a claim last time but think they may be entitled should log onto the government gateway and check their status.
For self employed people who have removed themselves from paying VAT this year, you must respond to the email that was sent by HMRC about your trading status. HMRC will consider this the end of self employment and you will not qualify for a grant unless you confirm you are still trading.
