Home » Legal developments » National legislation » Great Britain: companies return more than £760 million from the furlough scheme Great Britain: companies return more than £760 million from the furlough scheme Through . Published on 28 April 2021 à 11h35 - Update on 28 April 2021 à 16h09 Resources A total of 3,777 companies, including clothing giant Primark and online retailer Asos, have voluntarily returned some of the funds released by the government under its Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (c.f. article No.12393 and No.12282). These employers are realizing that they had been less impacted by the pandemic than expected, and therefore did not need the aid. Accounting group UHY Hacker Young estimates some £760 million (€874 million) has been handed back. While the refunds are currently a voluntary effort, they are expected to intensify as the government plans to scrutinize the scheme more closely, including the setting up a special Covid-19 fraud task force within the HMRC tax department. UHY Hacker Young partner, Neela Chauhan, believes that the HMRC “has taken a ‘softly, softly’ approach so far by issuing nudge letters to those it suspects may have claimed furlough money incorrectly, encouraging them to hand back money voluntarily if necessary.” “The next stage of its investigations will be much more aggressive,” she warns. Currently, employers don’t have to provide proof of financial hardship in order to qualify for the scheme. Penalties are, however, intended for cases of misuse. Since the start of the pandemic, the government has disbursed £53.8 billion pounds (€61.8 billion) under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which is due to run until 30 September. Need more info ? Contact mind's on-demand study service Which service do you want to contact :WritingCommercial serviceTechnical SupportFirst name Last name Organization Function email* Object of the message Your messageEmailThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Essentials Les dernières publications Supporting parenthood in the workplace: a win-win strategy Supporting employee carers: a CSR challenge Analyzes Les dernières publications Paternity leave: data observations from 41 countries EU: during H1 2022 five EU Member States have raised their minimum salary levels