Following our previous update on 30th July 2020, please find below notable changes that have been released via gov.uk.

Job Retention Bonus

Employers will be able to claim a one-off payment of £1,000 for every employee they have previously received a grant for under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), and who remains continuously employed through to the end of January 2021.

To be eligible, the employee must have received earnings in November, December and January, and must have been paid an average of at least £520 per month, and a total of at least £1,560 across the three months.

As the employer, you will be able to claim the bonus after you have filed PAYE information for January 2021, and the bonus will be paid from February 2021.

What you need to do now:

If you intend to claim the Job Retention Bonus you must:

• Ensure all your employee records are up to date,
• accurately report employees’ details and wages on the Full Payment Submission (FPS) through the Real Time Information (RTI) reporting system,
• make sure all of your CJRS claims have been accurately submitted and you have told us about any changes needed (for example if you’ve received too much or too little).

Further guidance, including how you can claim the bonus online, will be available by the end of September.

Customs Declaration Grant

The customs grant scheme is now open for applications.

There are 3 grants available to help your business complete customs declarations.

You can apply to get funding for:

1. Training

That helps your business to complete customs declarations and processes.

The grant will give you up to 100% of the actual costs of externally-provided training for your employees, up to a limit of £1,500 for each employee on the course.

It will also cover the cost of training you run internally, up to a limit of £250 for each employee on the course.

2. Recruitment

Hiring new staff to help your business complete customs declarations.

The grant will give you £3,000 towards recruitment costs for each new employee. Upfront recruitment costs will not be covered for an employee redeployed from another part of the business, unless this is part of an external recruitment campaign.

You could also get up to £12,000 to cover the salary costs for each new or redeployed employee.

3. IT improvements

To help your business complete customs declarations more efficiently

The grant will give you 100% of the costs relating to your IT expenditure to improve the efficiency of making customs declarations.

Who can apply?

Your business must:

• Have been established in the UK for at least 12 months before the submission of your application and when the grant is paid,
• not have previously failed to meet its tax obligations – records will be checked to decide if your business can be offered a grant.

In addition, your businesses must meet one of the descriptions below:

• Complete or intend to complete customs declarations on behalf of your clients,
• be an importer or exporter and complete or intend to complete declarations internally for your own goods,
• be an organisation which recruits, trains and places apprentices in businesses to undertake customs declarations.

Grants will be issued on a first come, first served basis.

Applications will close on 30 June 2021, or earlier if all funding is allocated.

How to apply

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is administering the grants for HMRC. Apply online now.