HMRC recently updated its guidance on how to calculate 80% of employee wages to claim through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), in relation to what claimants who have over-claimed need to do to rectify the situation.

Anybody who has made an error in their claim which has resulted in the receipt of an over-claimed amount must pay the overpayment figure back to HMRC.

Claimants now have the option to advise HMRC about an over-claimed amount within a subsequent claim that they make. For new claims, a question will be included which asks whether the amount being claimed for needs to be reduced, to reflect a previous error. The new claim amount should be adjusted to account for the previous overclaim.

Claimants should keep a record of this adjustment for a minimum period of six years.
Where an error has been made in a claim, but there are no further claims to be made, the current guidance states that HMRC is working on a process to allow claimants to notify them of the error, and to pay back any amounts that have been incorrectly over-claimed. Guidance on this process will be issued once it has been established.