In an attempt to reduce the number of fraudulent furlough claims, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has ordered HMRC to publish information about employers who submit claims. Information about employers who claim under the extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) over December 2020 and January 2021 will be made public
The government has made the decision in an attempt to reduce the number of fraudulent claims made to the scheme. However, there is speculation that the Chancellor made the decision with hopes that it would reduce the number of claims made with the assumption that fewer businesses would wish to apply if their information was made public.
Details that will be made public include the name of the employer, company reference, and the amount of the CJRS claim being made. Once an employer has requested help through the scheme, the information will be posted on the gov.uk website within the following three months.
Employers or individuals exempt from publication
HMRC will not publish details of employers claiming through the scheme if posting the information would result in the risk of violence or intimidation to individuals or any individuals living with the employer.
Individuals who may be exempt include:
- Employers that are individuals
- Employers that are companies, e.g. director, officer or employee of that company
- Employers that are partnerships
- Employers that are limited liability partnerships
- Trustees of a trust, e.g. settlor, trustee, or beneficiary
To be exempt from publication, you must supply HMRC with evidence as to why you should be exempt. Examples of evidence include police incident numbers, photos or recorded proof of threat, or any other evidence of possible disruption or targeting. HMRC will publish more information on the types of evidence accepted on the gov.uk website soon.
Will HMRC publish all my CJRS claims?
The government will only publish employer information for claims made during periods after 1st December 2020. So, if you are an employer who made claims between March and September 2020 and does not intend to make further claims through the scheme, your information will not be shared. However, if you made claims from March 2020 and intent to continue claiming through until March 2021 your details will be published for grants from December 2020 to March 2021.
Why has the government decided to publicise furlough claim information?
The decision was made following recommendations from the National Audit Office (NAO) CJRS review. Publicising the information is thought to help reduce fraud and increase the transparency of the scheme.
It is estimated that more than £3.9 billion of public money has been fraudulently claimed by businesses. During the first batch of furlough schemes, many criminals were able to take advantage and claim large amounts of money intended to keep the economy moving.
The amount of fraudulent activity has increased scrutiny on larger retailers who remained open during lockdown when their rivals were forced to stay closed. As a result, many have returned their business relief claimed through the government. This includes many large supermarkets including Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Sainsbury’s, B&M, Aldi, and Lidl, who collectively returned more than £2 billion.
A further reason that the government have decided to publicise the information is to make information transparent to the public. Since the CJRS scheme began, many employers have been taking advantage of furlough whilst making unaware employees work. Making employer information public is one way to ensure that employers are honest with their employees and use furlough responsibly.
Visit the Defacto FD blog to stay in touch with the latest changes and updates to furlough and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).
