TC09642 - [2025] UKFTT 01116 (TC)

CSEL submits that the claims for CJRS were correctly made, in particular CSEL calculated the furlough pay to the employees based on contracts agreed prior to the Covid-19 shut down and the suspension of works.

The spa engineers were fixed rate employees because they were paid a fixed rate per day when the contracts were available.

The amounts the employees were paid in March 2020 prior to their furlough should be taken into account as the employees were working on their agreed rate and were paid at month end as they always were. There was nothing in the legislation that requires the employer to have run a payroll by 19 March 2020 in that month.

HMRC’s calculations suggests that CSEL should be paid approximately £80 a week, which is not a living wage and would therefore not have been acceptable.

The CJRS was supposed to support companies to pay their employees and keep the companies afloat during the pandemic, which is exactly what CSEL did.

HMRC’s interpretation of the CJRS in this case has done exactly the opposite.

Having to repay the CJRS funds back to HMRC will put CSEL out of business.

HMRC has made repeated errors in the calculations sent to CSEL, which shows how complicated the rules were. There doesn’t appear to be any consequence for HMRC in making these errors, which is inequitable.

CSEL made further claims after the hold on claims was lifted because they understood that HMRC now accepted the position was correct. It would therefore be unfair for HMRC to claw back these amounts now.