New TIGHT timescales for submitting furlough claims to HMRC

The government’s latest guidance confirms that furlough claims must be submitted within two weeks of the end of the previous calendar month unless there is a “reasonable excuse for failing to make the claim in time”.

These are the deadlines:

Claim for furlough days in - Claim must be submitted by

November 2020 - 14 December 2020

December 2020 - 14 January 2021

January 2021 - 15 February 2021

February 2021 - 15 March 2021

March 2021 - 14 April 2021

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 them from making your claim

• postal delays that you could not have predicted prevented you from making your claim

• delays related to a disability you have prevented you from making your claim

• a HMRC error prevented you from making your claim

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wages-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme