Extended Furlough Scheme

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (also known as the furlough scheme) was due to close at the end of April 2021 but the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has opted to extend it until the end of September. Employees will continue to receive 80% of their current salary for hours not worked.  

Crucially, employers will be required to pay 10% towards the hours their employees cannot work in July, followed by 20% in August and September. This is in addition to the employer's national insurance and pension contributions they are already paying on hours not worked by employees. 

For periods ending on or before 30th April 2021, you can claim for employees who were employed on 30th October 2020, as long as you have made a PAYE RTI submission to HMRC between the 20th March 2020 and 30th October 2020, notifying a payment of earnings for that employee. 

However, for periods starting on or after 1st May 2021, you can now claim for employees who were employed on 2nd March 2021, as long as you have made a PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) submission to HMRC between 20th March 2020 and 2nd March 2021, notifying a payment of earnings for that employee. You do not need to have previously claimed for an employee before the 2nd March 2021 to claim for periods starting on or after 1st May 2021. 

To find out more about eligibility and how this scheme works please visit our hub here 

Date published 5 Mar 2021

This article is intended to inform rather than advise and is based on legislation and practice at the time. Taxpayer’s circumstances do vary and if you feel that the information provided is beneficial it is important that you contact us before implementation. If you take, or do not take action as a result of reading this article, before receiving our written endorsement, we will accept no responsibility for any financial loss incurred.