HMRC recovers £26.5 million in fraudulent furlough claims

HMRC have been granted a forfeiture order over five accounts which are connected to an individual who is believed to have fraudulently claimed £26.5 million through the UK Government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which closed at the end of last month.

Although an extreme example this case is unlikely to be a one off as the Treasury has indicated that fraud and error in the scheme could be as high as 10 per cent. Therefore this case acts as a useful reminder that employers who have claimed under the scheme should work out carefully whether or not they have overclaimed whilst using the scheme.

Employers who might have accidently overclaimed should repay these sums as soon as they are discovered, as not only will they have to repay any amounts overclaimed but they could also face penalties if they don't report and repay amounts which were overclaimed.

Last week HMRC issued updated guidance on repaying grants which were overclaimed, the guidance is available here, employers who have claimed through the scheme should familiarise themselves with the updated guidance and ensure that they repay any amounts overclaimed.