COVID 19 – Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme
The Government announced the establishment of a Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme to respond to the economic impact of Covid-19. This scheme will be operated by Revenue and enables employees, whose employers are affected by the pandemic, to receive significant supports directly from their employer. The subsidy scheme will be operational from 26 March 2020.
The Temporary Wage Subsidy replaces the previous Employer COVID-19 Employer Refund Scheme and significantly increases the support payment from the current €203 per employee per week. Revenue will be contacting all employers who applied for the previous scheme to inform them of the new enhanced support arrangements and provide options to transfer to the new subsidy scheme.
The scheme is available to employers from all sectors (excluding the civil service and non-commercial semi-state sector) who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In general, the subsidy refunds qualifying employers up to 70% of the employee’s average net weekly pay (or equivalent for monthly or fortnightly pay frequencies) to a maximum of €410 per week, per employee.
To qualify for the scheme employers must:
- be experiencing significant negative economic disruption due to Covid-19,
- be able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of Revenue a minimum of 25% decline in turnover
- be unable to pay normal wages and outgoings in full
- will retain employees on the payroll and
- make best efforts to maintain a significant, or 100 per cent, income for the period of the subsidy.
Contact us to find out more if you believe your business can claim relief under this scheme or if you have any queries. We believe some work will be required to gather and present the information which may be required from Revenue as a back up to your claim, including revenue and cash flow statements and forecast along with employee payroll returns and payments.
