Help with Tax investigations – Tax on false job retention scheme payments

100% tax on false Covid-19 job retention scheme payments

HMRC will be tracking down those they  suspect have broken the rules of the Job Retention Scheme – the JRS scheme, which do not allow furloughed staff to work while receiving up to £2,500 a month to stay at home.

Whistle-blowers have been out in force in their thousands to report errant employers for a variety of misdemeanours.  Employees report being paid less than the recovered 80% government furloughed money and many have been made or asked to work whilst furloughed.  Both are wrong and indicate serious breaches of the rules.

The Treasury’s decision to effectively introduce a new 100% tax band has been made to ensure HMRC can use existing powers to prosecute businesses that fail to pay tax demands from Covid-19 payments that it believes were misused, obtained incorrectly or not necessary.

A spokesman for HMRC said: “HMRC can already refuse to pay claims that they think are fraudulent or abusive, but these measures will ensure we can properly investigate and recover overpayments and penalise deliberate abuse of the schemes.”