The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe has announced changes to a number of the COVID support schemes available to businesses, in particular for those businesses that were most severely impacted by the public health regulations introduced last December.
An extension to the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) to support those businesses and a number of clarifications in relation to the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) and Tax Debt Warehousing Scheme were agreed by Government at the Cabinet meeting on January 21.
The government agreed that businesses availing of EWSS that were directly impacted by the public health Regulations introduced last December, will receive additional support under the scheme for a further month to assist these businesses as they fully reopen and emerge from the restrictions.
Such businesses will continue to receive the enhanced rates of subsidy for the month of February and the graduated step-down in subsidy rates, as previously announced, will be delayed by one month with such firms continuing to receive support under the scheme until 31 May 2022.
From 1 February 2022, most businesses, apart from those that were directly impacted by the public health restrictions of last December, will move to the reduced rate of support of €203 per employee, followed by the flat rate subsidy of €100 per employee for the final two months the scheme of March and April 2022.
It should be noted that the full rate of Employers’ PRSI will be reinstated with effect from 1 March 2022 for all businesses, as announced in Budget 2022 and legislated for in the Social Welfare Act 2021.
In relation to the Tax Debt Warehousing Scheme, and the decision by Government last month, to extend the period where tax liabilities arising can be warehoused to the end of Q1 2022, for all taxpayers eligible for COVID-19 support schemes, it has now been agreed that this date will be extended to 30 April 2022 to facilitate the two monthly VAT return for March/April.
A number of clarifications were noted in relation to the CRSS as follows:
• as provided for under the scheme, an extra week, will be paid to businesses the week after the restrictions are lifted as an additional support to businesses as they reopen fully
• for newer businesses established during the period 13 October 2020 to 26 July 2021, the turnover from the date of commencement up to 1 August 2021 will be used for the purpose of calculating average weekly turnover
• certain charities and sporting bodies that operate a hospitality/indoor entertainment business activity from their business premises, who meet the revised qualifying criteria of the scheme, are eligible to apply for the CRSS for the most recent period of restrictions (20 December 2021 to January 2022)
In light of the further restrictions imposed from 20 December, the government agreed that businesses in the hospitality sector that are required, under specific terms of public health regulations, to close at 8pm each night from 20 December 2021 to 31 January 2022 would be regarded as being significantly restricted from operating for the purposes of the CRSS.
Businesses that were eligible to apply are those that would normally stay open later than 8pm such as bars, restaurants, nightclubs and hotels as well as indoor entertainment venues such as cinemas and theatres.
In addition, the turnover threshold was increased from 25% to 40%, which means that an eligible business could make a claim under the scheme where the turnover of the person in respect of the relevant business activity in the claim period was 40% (or less) of their average weekly turnover in a reference period (which is 2019 in the case of most businesses).
Newer businesses established during the period 13 October 2020 to 26 July 2021 may access supports under the scheme where eligibility criteria are met for the most recent period of restrictions (20 December – January 2022). ■