Prepare for a flood of CJRS fraud enquiries as furlough finishes

HMRC is continuing to ramp up its investment into countering wrong and/or fraudulent coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS) claims meaning the UK business population should prepare to receive a flood of letters from HMRC as furlough draws to a close. HMRC’s focus appears to be shifting after 18 months of supporting businesses with CJRS to recouping tax revenue.

This shift comes as the government looks to recoup a suspected £7bn of fraudulent or erroneous CJRS claims. Having received funding of £100m from the government in the spring Budget HMRC has invested significant amounts into its taxpayer protection taskforce and is moving through the gears now that the taskforce is up to strength after a recruitment drive to hire more than 1 200 investigators since March.

The department is understood to be ready to conduct up to around 30 000 checks 10 000...