The director of Pipsquid, a restaurant in Faversham, Kent, made 15 claims in 2020 that were not ‘qualifying costs’. The director of the restaurant, Nicholas Green, represented the company at the First Tier Tribunal.

The reason for them not qualifying was Green had not moved his staff over to the Real Time Information (RTI). This online PAYE system was introduced in 2013.

Claims were also made after 19 March 2020, the cut-off for applications to be valid and ‘preserve the entitlement to the payments’, totalling £45,361.55.

Green stated that his daughter was seriously ill at the time, losing his focus on the business, which tribunal judge Ian Hyde accepted.