HMRC refusing to pay furlough

MicheleS01

My husband was employed by a newly set up company on 24th February (the company started a few days before that).  The business is a restaurant.  They have applied to furlough all staff but HMRC are refusing to pay as they've said that the Company hasn't set up the "activation code" in time.  All the staff are now suffering because of this.  The owners and accountant are not English so I suspect their grasp of the process may have been hampered by a lack of understanding.  Is there any way around this please?  An appeals process perhaps? 

poppy12345

For your employer to be able to furlough you then an RTI submission would need to have been sent by 19th March. As you didn't start working until 24th feb, if you're paid monthly or 4 weekly then it's unlike to have been done by that date. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/furlough-scheme-cut-off-date-extended-to-19-march

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MicheleS01

The guidance does not state that you have to have been paid - only that you should be on the employer's PAYE system (which they were). 

Jeremy535897

MicheleS01 said:

The guidance does not state that you have to have been paid - only that you should be on the employer's PAYE system (which they were). 

The date an employee comes on to the system for CJRS is normally the date their first FPS is submitted, which is when the first payroll they are on is run and submitted. This can be a few days before they are actually paid, but if they had not got an activation code, I doubt they submitted anything.

mobilejo

Had an RTI submission been sent to HMRC by 19th March with the employees on it?

MicheleS01

mobilejo said:

Had an RTI submission been sent to HMRC by 19th March with the employees on it?

Yes I believe it had.

Diamandis

Well hmrc are saying otherwise. What makes you believe it had? 

Jeremy535897

If there was no activation code, it may not count.

poppy12345

MicheleS01 said:

mobilejo said:

Had an RTI submission been sent to HMRC by 19th March with the employees on it?

Yes I believe it had.

You need to speak to your employer to check for certain it had been sent. If it hadn't then furlough can't be claimed. It sounds like it hadn't because they don't have the code.

MicheleS01

I spoke with the accountant early March as he had made a mistake on my husband's first payslip and he said that he had just enough time to change it and had to submit before that Friday which was before the 19th March.  The employer has said that the accountant used the "wrong code" so I'm not sure what that means.  I will get some clarification.  However, it seems obscene that if the accountant has messed up, HMRC won't make the payments.  If that is what's happened surely there must be an appeals process?

Thrugelmir

MicheleS01 said:

My husband was employed by a newly set up company on 24th February (the company started a few days before that).  The business is a restaurant.  

To start a company and have a restauarant open in a matter of days is nothing short of miraculous.