HMRC coronavirus job retention scheme compliance activity

The coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS) provided grants to employers towards their wage costs between March 2020 to September 2021. The aim was to help them retain and continue to pay staff during pandemic lockdowns and restrictions by furloughing employees at up to 80% of their wages. The scheme has come at a cost to taxpayers of £70bn with 11.7 million employees furloughed.

HMRC chief executive Jim Harra stated in November 2021 that around £2.3bn of overclaimed CJRS and other coronavirus grant monies were expected to be recouped over the following 18 months through HMRC’s taxpayer protection taskforce (TPT) with 1 250 dedicated staff in place until March 2023 to concentrate specifically on recovering such monies.

By the end of March 2022 HMRC had opened nearly 41 000 one-to-one compliance interventions and contacted over 63 000 people through one-to-many campaigns regarding CJRS claims. We have...