On 21st December 2021, the Government announced the expansion of supports for businesses impacted by public health restrictions that came into effect from 20th December 2021 to 31st January 2022 including changes to:
A summary of the developments to the schemes is outlined below.
On 9th December 2021 it was announced that the enhanced subsidy rates under the EWSS will continue until 31st January 2022. In other words these enhanced rates will be paid in respect of payroll submissions which have pay dates in December 2021 and January 2022.
Today, Minister Donohoe confirmed that the EWSS will also be reopened for certain businesses who would not otherwise be eligible for the scheme.
Employers can re-join the scheme from January 2022 if they meet the following conditions:
Employers who qualify for re-entry to the EWSS will receive support from 1st January 2022 onwards. These businesses can remain in the scheme until its expiry date of 30th April 2022.
Please bear in mind that the business must experience a 30% reduction in (a) turnover or (b) customer orders during a particular reference period to qualify.
Businesses that commence trading operations from 1st January 2022 onwards will not be eligible for the scheme.
For further information, please click: https://www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/press-office/budget-information/2021/crss-guidelines.pdf
From 20th December 2021, the CRSS opens to businesses within the hospitality and indoor entertainment sector such as bars, restaurants and hotels as well as theatres and cinemas that are now required to close by 8pm each night until 31st January 2022.
The eligibility criteria regarding the reduction in turnover has also increased to no more than 40% of 2019 turnover. Previously it was no more than 25% of the 2019 turnover.
Companies, self-employed individuals and partnerships that carry out a taxable trade can apply for the CRSS.
A qualifying person who meets the revised eligibility criteria can make a claim to Revenue in respect of each week that the eligible business/trading activity is affected by the imposed Covid restrictions.
A qualifying person who carries on such a business is eligible to make a payment claim under the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme if:
For businesses established in the period between 13th October 2020 and 26th July 2021, they are eligible to apply for support under the scheme, however, they are first required to register for CRSS via ROS. It will only be possible to make a claim once the business has an active CRSS registration.
If the eligible business meets the revised criteria to qualify for the scheme and has previously received CRSS payments in relation to a business premises carrying out a trading activity which was affected by the current public health restrictions, this business can make a CRSS claim using the ROS e-Repayments facility from 22nd December 2022.
Claims can be made in blocks of up to three weeks at a time. The respective amounts due will be paid by Revenue in one single payment. The normal repayment period is three days from the date the claim was submitted.
In circumstances where a qualifying person carries on more than one eligible business activity from separate/different business premises, then it is possible to make a separate claim in relation to each trading /business activity.
If it’s possible for the business to reopen without having to prevent or significantly restrict access to it’s premises, then this business will not qualify for CRSS. A business will not be eligible for the CRSS for periods where it chooses or decides not to open.
In situations where it is not feasible for a qualifying person to continue carrying on a relevant business activity during the period of restrictions, a claim for support under the CRSS can still be made. This is on condition that the eligibility criteria have been met. In order to qualify, the person must have actively carried on the relevant business activity up to the date the latest public health restrictions were imposed and must intend to continue carrying on that same activity once those restrictions have been eased.
The weekly payment is calculated as follows
For the purposes of the CRSS, the “Average weekly turnover” is defined as:
For further information, please click the link: https://www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/press-office/budget-information/2021/crss-guidelines.pdf
The Revenue Commissioners have confirmed that November/December 2021 VAT liabilities and December 2021 PAYE (Employer) liabilities will be automatically warehoused for businesses which are already availing of the scheme.
The Government confirmed that the Covid restricted trading phase of the Debt Warehousing Scheme (Period 1) will be extended by three months to 31st March 2022 for taxpayers who are eligible for the COVID-19 support schemes. This effectively means that tax debts arising for such affected businesses in the first three months of 2022 can be warehoused.
The zero interest phase of the Debt Warehousing Scheme or Period 2 will begin on 1st April 2022 for those businesses and will run until 31st March 2023.
For further information, please click the link: https://www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/communications/documents/debt-warehousing-reduced-interest-measures.pdf