Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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263. To ask the Minister for Finance if the wage subsidy scheme will be tapered to allow for businesses that record varying profits which may take them just under the expected 30% reduction in turnover; and the outcome for businesses that record a 29% reduction at the end of the period with regards to the scheme. [37219/21]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Section 28B of the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020 provides for the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) which is an economy-wide enterprise support for eligible businesses in respect of eligible employees. On 1 June, the Government approved the extension of EWSS to 31 December 2021 as a key policy instrument to continue to provide the necessary employment support for eligible businesses.  

Regarding eligibility for the scheme up until 30 June 2021, an employer had to be  able to demonstrate that his or her business would experience a 30% reduction in turnover or orders between 1 January and 30 June 2021, by reference to the corresponding period in 2019, as a result of business disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

However, the position is that for EWSS claims from 1 July 2021, the reference period against which the turnover condition will be judged has been broadened out from a six month period to a full year so that turnover in the full year 2021 is compared with that for the full year in 2019, with appropriate arrangements for qualifying businesses who may not have been in operation for all of 2019.  All other things being equal, this should allow a greater number of firms to qualify for the scheme than would be the case if the a six month reference period along the lines of that mentioned above had been retained. At the same time, the existing requirement for a 30% decrease in turnover is being retained and there are no plans at the present time to modify same in the manner mentioned by the Deputy. 

With some businesses remaining closed or limited in their capacity to trade due to the public health restrictions in place, upon the resumption of normal trading, such businesses can potentially generate turnover or customer orders of up to 70% of their full turnover/customer orders for 2019 during the remainder of 2021 and may remain eligible to claim support under the scheme.

I would also point out that the EWSS legislation requires that immediately at the end of each month, from the introduction of the scheme in August 2020 onwards, each employer availing of the scheme must carry out a self-review of its business circumstances and if it is manifest to the employer that it no longer meets the eligibility test for qualification for the scheme, then the employer must immediately cease claiming wage subsidy payments.

To assist employers in conducting a monthly review of its continuing eligibility for the scheme, Revenue is providing an EWSS Eligibility Review Form through its Revenue Online Service (ROS). From 21 July 2021, completing and submitting an EWSS Eligibility Review Form to Revenue will be necessary to avail of EWSS supports, with details of an employer’s monthly eligibility review check to be submitted by the 15th of the following month.  For example, the eligibility review undertaken on the last day of July will need to be completed and submitted to Revenue by 15 August.

Timely submission of the form will provide assurance to both employers and Revenue that subsequent EWSS claims are appropriate and in line with the terms of the scheme. This, together with Revenue’s EWSS ongoing real-time compliance program, will reduce the possibility of employers, inadvertently or incorrectly, claiming EWSS amounts to which they are not entitled and having to subsequently repay those amounts to Revenue.

Where businesses do not meet the requisite 30% turnover reduction, Revenue will not seek repayment of EWSS claimed on foot of projections which are robustly prepared, reflect the actual trading environment throughout the period they cover, and differed from the actual position by an immaterial amount.  However, if the projections prepared together with actual results to date do not meet the 30% reduction, the business should deregister for EWSS and cease submitting additional claims.  

Finally, employers must have a tax clearance certificate to be eligible to join the EWSS and must continue to meet the requirements for tax clearance for the duration of the scheme.