COVID 19 - Job Retention - Annual Pay Frequency

[landlord1234]

Hi,
I am sole director of a small company. There are 2 employees currently on PAYE , me and a family member.

We are both paid with 'Pay Frequency : Annual' once per year in April. We have both been paid in April 2016,2017,2018,2019, and 2020

Both of us agreed to be furloughed as soon as the government scheme was announced as no work was possible due to the lockdown.

When I today tried to initiate a claim for the current scheme, I got the following message

----- You are not eligible to make a claim

----- The employer is registered for PAYE online, but our records show that on 19 March 2020 there were no employees on the payroll.
----- Furloughed employees must have
------ been on the employer’s PAYE payroll on 19 March 2020 to be eligible for this scheme.

Both employees have been paid through PAYE for 5 years , the last payroll being 31/3/2019.

They have never received a P45 , all previous payments have been made as 'Pay Frequency : Annual' ,does that not mean they are on the payroll ?

Any thoughts on whether we do qualify ?

I found this online
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-80-of-your-employees-wages-to-claim-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme
Employees whose pay varies and were employed from 6 April 2019
If the employee has been employed continuously from the start of the 2019 to 2020 tax year, you can claim the highest of either:
80% of the same month’s wages from the previous year (up to a maximum of £2,500 a month)
80% of the average monthly wages for the 2019 to 2020 tax year (up to a maximum of £2,500 a month)

Does that not mean I can use the April 2019 wages ?

Any comments welcome.

[D&C]

I suspect you need to speak to HMRC however before doing that you might want to get your facts straight.

You refer to being paid in April 2019 and also to April 2019 wages but say the last payroll was 31/3/2019.

We are both paid with 'Pay Frequency : Annual' once per year in April. We have both been paid in April 2016,2017,2018,2019, and 2020

Both employees have been paid through PAYE for 5 years , the last payroll being 31/3/2019

Does that not mean I can use the April 2019 wages ?

[landlord1234]

Sorry , that should read ... paid March each year , last payment 31 March 2019

[landlord1234]

Just to clarify and correct error regarding March /April.

I am sole director of a small company. There are 2 employees currently on PAYE , me and a family member.

We are both paid with 'Pay Frequency : Annual' once per year in March. We have both been paid in March 2016,2017,2018,2019, and 2020

Both of us agreed to be furloughed as soon as the government scheme was announced as no work was possible due to the lockdown.

When I today tried to initiate a claim for the current scheme, I got the following message

----- You are not eligible to make a claim

----- The employer is registered for PAYE online, but our records show that on 19 March 2020 there were no employees on the payroll.
----- Furloughed employees must have
------ been on the employer’s PAYE payroll on 19 March 2020 to be eligible for this scheme.

Both employees have been paid through PAYE for 5 years , the payroll dates being

27/3/2016
31/3/2017
2/3/2018
29/3/2019
31/3/2020

They have never received a P45 , all previous payments have been made as 'Pay Frequency : Annual' ,does that not mean they are on the payroll ?

Any thoughts on whether we do qualify ?