Sinter Site Services Limited made claims totalling £175,689.59 for payments under the coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS) on 21 occasions from 3 April 2020 to 30 September 2021 for five employees, namely David Seymour, his wife and their three sons.

When HMRC carried out a compliance check into the furlough claims in November 2021, the investigating officer was of the view that the amount was ‘excessive’.

As a result, the claim total was recalculated under paragraph 9 of schedule 16 of Finance Act 2020 down to a revised total of £87,958.82, for the three accounting periods ending 31 August 2020 (£27,028.76), 31 August 2021 (£56,669.40) and 31 August 2022 (£4,260.66).

Sinter appealed the decision at the First Tier Tribunal (FTT), arguing that the furlough claims were based on wages which the company had agreed to pay to the employees with effect from April 2020. However, because of the onset of Covid it was unable to do so, adding that HMRC’s position on the way the claim was calculated was ‘not reasonable’.

HMR