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Coronavirus: UK firms voluntarily return £215m in furlough cash
Sep 21, 2020
UK firms have voluntarily returned more than £215m to the government in furlough scheme payments they did not need or took in error.
According to HMRC figures, some 80,433 employers have returned cash they were given to help cover workers' salaries.
The money returned is only a fraction of the £3.5bn officials believe may have been paid out in error or to fraudsters under the scheme.
HMRC said it welcomed employers who have voluntarily returned grants.
Under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) - or furlough scheme - workers placed on leave have received 80% of their pay, up to a maximum of £2,500 a month.
At first this was all paid for by the government, but firms are now having to make a contribution to wages as well.
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As of 15 September, companies and other bodies had returned £215,756,121 in grants, according to data obtained by the PA news agency through a freedom of information request.
Some of the money was returned, while other firms simply claimed smaller payouts the next time they were given furlough cash.
It is a tiny part of the £35.4bn claimed under CJRS up until 16 August, the latest date for which statistics are available.
HMRC said: "HMRC welcomes those employers who have voluntarily returned CJRS grants to HMRC because they no longer need the grant, or have realised they've made errors and followed our guidance on putting things right."
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