The Chief Executive of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, Jim Harra, has announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) for furloughed workers is due to open on 20th April 2020 for applications.
The CJRS was announced on 20th March 2020 and is due to back date payments to the beginning of March but has not yet opened for applications, despite the fact that many companies have been furloughing staff for weeks already.
Jim Harra told MPs on the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee that he was confident the scheme would be able to handle the anticipated surge in applications when it opens on 20th April 2020. Mr Harra also added that he expected the scheme to make ‘payments later this month, before the 30th April’.
Commenting on the announcement, Nova Fairbank, Head of Policy for Norfolk Chambers said:
“The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was welcomed by the Norfolk business community and will undoubtedly protect jobs, but we need HMRC to meet their commitment of making payments before the end of April . As our recent business poll identified, 77% of local firms said cash flow was their number one concern and many companies will not have the cash to pay staff for another month, without access to the Government’s furlough payments.”
