COVID fraud amnesty opens

During the COVID-19 pandemic, government offered a whole range of support schemes. Unfortunately, because they were designed and launched quickly, some attracted significant numbers of fraudulent or erroneous claims. To help claw back more of this money, government has now launched a COVID fraud amnesty. It opened on 12^th September 2025 and runs until December.

Affected COVID support schemes

The amnesty applies to all government COVID-19 support schemes. The main ones include:

• Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). This was commonly known as the ‘Furlough Scheme’.
• Self Employed Income Support Scheme. This supported self-employed people whose earnings dropped or dried up during the pandemic.
• Eat Out to Help Out Scheme. This offered subsidised meals to encourage people back to restaurants, gastropubs and similar venues.
• Cultural Recovery Fund. This was a rescue package for cultural organisations.
• Business Support Grants. There was a variety of these grants, including schemes such as Restart Grants and the Small Business Grant Fund.
• Grants from the Department for Health & Social Care. These were designed to support providers in this sector.
• Business Loan Guarantee Schemes. These were loans guaranteed by the government. The most well-known was the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.

Why the COVID fraud amnesty?

The government says that over £10 billion was lost to COVID fraud, flawed contracts and waste. It has reclaimed £1.54 billion.

Certainly, since the pandemic there have many prosecutions for COVID fraud. These include:

• A scaffolding boss forced to repay £100,000 in COVID loans, plus interest.
• Fraud perpetrated by a woman who invented a business to get a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan.
• A video game composer who overstated his company’s turnover to get a second Bounce Back Loan of £37,500.
• A restaurant owner who claimed nearly £50,000 more than he was entitled to via the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
• The case of a company director who fraudulently claimed nearly £250,000 from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

As you can see, COVID fraud can involve large sums of money. However, it’s likely that many fraudulent but smaller claims were also made.

How does the COVID fraud amnesty work?

Put simply, if you think you have erroneously claimed money via a COVID support scheme, you can pay it back – no questions asked. Anyone in this position who fails to do so runs the risk of being caught. In 2026, the government receives additional investigatory powers, making it much more likely COVID fraud will be detected.

Government is also encouraging informers to report cases of suspected COVID fraud. It has now launched a COVID fraud reporting website, which is available here.

How do I pay back a COVID grant or loan?

If you do need to pay back a COVID grant or loan under the amnesty, you can find instructions on how to do it here.

What should I do next?

The COVID amnesty won’t affect most of our readers. However, if you think you may have claimed a COVID grant or loan you weren’t fully entitled to, we urge you to make use of the amnesty. If you don’t, you run the risk of sanctions that include prosecution, disqualification and prison – not to mention a hefty bill with interest and penalties.

If, for any reason, you do end up being the subject of an HMRC investigation, it’s wise to get expert help from your accountant. That’s where our Tax Investigation Fee Protection Service comes into its own. If you subscribe, up to £100,000 in accountancy fees are covered if the taxman comes knocking.