My boss doesn't have me on the books. Can I claim furlough?

Jeremy535897

MattMattMattUK said:

macman said:

Depressing to hear that 'the accountant' is part of a conspiracy to defraud HMRC, as well as the owners.

There are quite a few accountants who support small owner/director businesses and sole traders who are far more adept at fiddling the system and hiding true profit from HMRC than they are at doing accounts. Some are qualified and accredited, others are not but practice as "accountants" regardless. My ex boss used to have an accredited one that would make people's accounts say whatever they wanted, so long as they paid his fee. 

I am not sure what you mean by "accredited". The term "accountant" is not reserved for those with specific qualifications, like the term "solicitor". There are also various "accountancy" bodies who do not have any sort of entry requirements, although less so than in the past. There will be crooks who are unqualified, and crooks who are qualified.

Grumpy_chap

With so many people able to so accurately predict the future, I won't bother buying this week's lottery ticket - even if I won, the prize will be spread so thinly that it won't manage to be life changing

bradders1983

Grumpy_chap said:

With so many people able to so accurately predict the future, I won't bother buying this week's lottery ticket - even if I won, the prize will be spread so thinly that it won't manage to be life changing

I predict you won't win anyway

Jeremy535897

Grumpy_chap said:

With so many people able to so accurately predict the future, I won't bother buying this week's lottery ticket - even if I won, the prize will be spread so thinly that it won't manage to be life changing

Could be worse. They reckon 70% of US lottery winners are broke in 3 to 5 years.

MattMattMattUK

Jeremy535897 said:

I am not sure what you mean by "accredited". 

I generally meant those with relevant qualifications and members of professional bodies. 

Jeremy535897 said:

The term "accountant" is not reserved for those with specific qualifications, like the term "solicitor". 

It is a shame really, I also believe that Engineer should be reserved (as it is in Germany), eg someone is not an engineer because they can plug in a new TV or connect a broadband router.

Jeremy535897 said:

There are also various "accountancy" bodies who do not have any sort of entry requirements, although less so than in the past. 

I think it would be better if they all had entry requirements and were audited, but I know that level of scrutiny is just fantasy.

Jeremy535897 said:
There will be crooks who are unqualified, and crooks who are qualified.

Agreed, but most of the crooks seem to be qualified (so that they learned how to fiddle the system), but not not members of their professional bodies. Although the the one who did my ex-boss's dodgy accounts was both highly qualified and a member of CIMA and ACCA.

ekhoos

macman said:

Depressing to hear that 'the accountant' is part of a conspiracy to defraud HMRC, as well as the owners.
OP, do you really feel that you'e entitled to benefit from state support by furlough, even though you have paid no tax or NI on your earnings?

Well I hope you'd understand that I have worked many jobs in the past where I have paid NI & tax and that I have made every effort to be put on the books in this job. I will also be working until I am 80.

Barny1979

Happy to avoid tax, but wants tax payers help now?

ekhoos

Barny1979 said:

Happy to avoid tax, but wants tax payers help now?

Haven't been "happy" to avoid tax. I have repeatedly asked to be on the books. I also took up this job upon finishing my Master's degree, with the hope it would be temporary. Covid is proving otherwise. 

macman

ekhoos said:

macman said:

Depressing to hear that 'the accountant' is part of a conspiracy to defraud HMRC, as well as the owners.
OP, do you really feel that you'e entitled to benefit from state support by furlough, even though you have paid no tax or NI on your earnings?

Well I hope you'd understand that I have worked many jobs in the past where I have paid NI & tax and that I have made every effort to be put on the books in this job. I will also be working until I am 80.

Putting aside the dubious morality of this approach, how could you possibly think that any employer can claim furlough for an employee who, as far as HMRC are concerned, does not exist? If this were possible, then there would be fraudulent claims on a huge scale.

ekhoos

macman said:

ekhoos said:

macman said:

Depressing to hear that 'the accountant' is part of a conspiracy to defraud HMRC, as well as the owners.
OP, do you really feel that you'e entitled to benefit from state support by furlough, even though you have paid no tax or NI on your earnings?

Well I hope you'd understand that I have worked many jobs in the past where I have paid NI & tax and that I have made every effort to be put on the books in this job. I will also be working until I am 80.

Putting aside the dubious morality of this approach, how could you possibly think that any employer can claim furlough for an employee who, as far as HMRC are concerned, does not exist? If this were possible, then there would be fraudulent claims on a huge scale.

macman said:

ekhoos said:

macman said:

Depressing to hear that 'the accountant' is part of a conspiracy to defraud HMRC, as well as the owners.
OP, do you really feel that you'e entitled to benefit from state support by furlough, even though you have paid no tax or NI on your earnings?

Well I hope you'd understand that I have worked many jobs in the past where I have paid NI & tax and that I have made every effort to be put on the books in this job. I will also be working until I am 80.

Putting aside the dubious morality of this approach, how could you possibly think that any employer can claim furlough for an employee who, as far as HMRC are concerned, does not exist? If this were possible, then there would be fraudulent claims on a huge scale.

I was unsure of whether there was a system in place for employees to claim furlough on new employees that were not yet on the books. I was under the impression that when I asked a month ago about being on the books that I had been put on, however as of last weekend I still had not. 

How often do employers get away with not making clear to HMRC who they have working for them? How is it not easy to track?