Eat Out to Help Out Scheme – How to claim money back

If you have registered your establishment for the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme and offered scheme discounts to diners on Mondays to Wednesdays between 3 and 31 August, you can:
• claim back the discount given on food and non-alcoholic drinks
• submit weekly claims for August until 30 September

HMRC’s online claims service to submit claims is now live. HMRC has also updated its guidance on how to submit claims which is available here and summarised below:

When you can claim: You can make a claim after 7 days from the date of your registration. You can only claim for scheme discounts you offered on or after the date you registered.

What you’ll need to make the claim: You’ll need the records you’ve kept for each day you’ve used the scheme, including the:
• total number of diners (covers) who have used the scheme, including children;
• total amount of discount you’ve given; and
• period you’re claiming for
If you’re making a claim for more than one establishment, you will need to have the records for each establishment and overall total value of the claim for all establishments ready before you claim

How to claim: Claims are made via the following link through your HMRC government gateway – https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/eat-out-to-help-out/claim. You can make up to 5 claims before 30 September. You cannot claim after that.

Examples on how to work out the total amount of discounts can be found here

Once you’ve claimed, you’ll get a claim reference number. HMRC will then check your claim is correct and pay the claim amount by BACs into the bank account you gave when you registered, within 5 working days.

Keeping Record: To show the link between the number of diners who got the discount and the total value of scheme discount being claimed for in each claim period, for each day, you must keep is a record of the:
• total number of diners who have used the scheme discount in your establishment
• total value of all eat in food and non-alcoholic drink sold where the scheme discounts were given
• total value of scheme discounts you’ve given and claimed for

Paying tax: You’ll still need to pay VAT based on the full amount of your customer’s bill before the scheme discount is applied. This amount needs to be reflected in the correct VAT return for the period the transaction took place.
If your point of sale system does not allow you to account for VAT accurately under this scheme, you can manually adjust your VAT account after the sale.
If you cannot include the adjustment in the period the transaction took place, you should estimate the VAT and you must account for any difference in your next VAT return.
The payment you receive will be treated as taxable income.