CARLICK CONTRACT FURNITURE LIMITED v Revenue & Customs (Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme - clawback of payments - payments made in respect of employees whose employment had commenced before 19 March 2020)

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme - clawback of payments - payments made in respect of employees whose employment had commenced before 19 March 2020, but where the first RTI return to include information about them post-dated 19 March 2020 - whether payments to those employees represented �qualifying costs� for the purposes of the Coronavirus Act 2020 Functions of HMRC (Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme) Direction of 15 April 2020, as amended by subsequent directions made on 20 May 2020 and 25 June 2020.

For the Appellant:�������� Neil Harrison, Managing Director and Sabin Ali, Finance Director

For the Respondents: �� Kim Johnson, litigator of HM Revenue and Customs� Solicitor�s Office

             This appears to be one of the earliest appeals before the Tribunal in relation to the attempted clawing back by HMRC of payments made to employers in respect of the furloughing of employees during the worst phases of the Coronavirus pandemic.

             The reader may recall that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (�CJRS�) was introduced urgently at the start of the pandemic to provide funding for employers who furloughed their employees rather than making them redundant when businesses were effectively forced to shut down as a result of the lockdown announced in March 2020.