Volume 3: June 2020

COVID-19 Update on CJRS revisions and ERS reporting reminder for 6 July 2020

Introduction to new A&M Taxand Associate

Adam Stevenson joined A&M Taxand in Glasgow on 1 June and is our first new recruit in Scotland since opening our office at the beginning of February. We are very excited to announce this expansion of our team and are delighted to welcome Adam to boost our team capabilities.

Adam has more than four years of experience advising private businesses and corporate clients. He specialises in U.K. taxation, within the financial investors group, focusing on tax compliance and advisory work for a range of corporate entities, asset managers, funds and private businesses.

Prior to joining A&M, Adam spent over two years with Grant Thornton in the corporate tax team in Glasgow, where he most recently served as Manager, providing corporate tax compliance and advisory services to a wide range of U.K. and overseas companies. Previously, he spent over two years at AH&Co Limited, working in general accountancy practice.

Contact Adam Stevenson at astevenson@alvarezandmarsal.com

COVID-19 Update - CJRS revisions: The good, the bad and the ugly

On Friday 29 May, Rishi Sunak made further announcements on the CJRS support available to employers from 1 July 2020 onwards.

Our colleagues have prepared an informative article to provide further details on the announcements which we have summarised below.

The good

• The scheme has been extended from 1 July 2020 to 31 October 2020;
• Employees can start to return to work from 1 July 2020;
• The scheme will be gradually reduced to help get employees back to work, rather than fully withdrawn; and
• Employees no longer need to be furloughed for a consecutive three week period in order to claim CJRS.

The bad

• Coverage under the CJRS scheme will be limited to those who are furloughed before 30 June;
• The methodology for computing claims is likely to become more complex with the gradual withdrawal; and
• Complex decisions will need to be made by employers and employees to bring about a safe return to work, but in a way that is affordable and sustainable.

The ugly

• New measures were published to extend HM Revenue and Custom’s (“HMRC”) inspection powers to cover CJRS;
• The proposals outline HMRC’s ability to impose penalties and seek recovery action where the CJRS claim was not valid or the company is insolvent; and
• There is a 30-day window in which employers can notify HMRC of errors or omissions, therefore, employers have an opportunity now to adjust or amend their prior CJRS claims.

For further information and to view the full article, click here.

ERS reporting reminder for 6 July 2020

We wanted to provide a further reminder that following the end of the 2019/20 U.K. tax year, annual ERS returns should be submitted to HMRC by 6 July 2020.

The ERS annual return will report any new or existing share plans (including co-investment and carried interest entitlements) to HMRC for the previous tax year and involves a number of key tasks, including:

• Registering new share plan arrangements;
• Verifying or self-certifying the tax-advantaged plans in place; and
• Submitting annual returns with all reportable events (including nil returns).

All ERS annual returns should be filed with HMRC before 6 July 2020 for tax year 2019/20 with late filings resulting in an automatic penalty and potentially significant consequences for tax-advantaged plans.

For further information and to view the full article, click here.