Seán Sherlock
Question:93. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Finance if there are dates by which a new hire must have been hired by a company to avail of the employment wage subsidy scheme. [22860/20]
View answerWednesday, 9 September 2020
Questions (93)
Written answers
The Employment Wages Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) was legislated for under the recently enacted Financial Provisions (Covid-19) (No. 2) Act 2020. The EWSS provides a flat-rate subsidy to qualifying employers, based on the number of qualifying employees on the payroll. For every qualifying employee paid between €203 and €1,462 gross per week, the level of subsidy is €203. For every qualifying employee paid between €151.50 and €202.99 gross per week, the subsidy is €151.50. No subsidy is paid for employees paid less than €151.50 or more than €1,462 gross per week.
Unlike the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme, there is no restriction on the date by which a new hire must have been hired by a company to avail of the EWSS, provided such recruitments are undertaken for bona fide business purposes and not with the intention to maximise subsidy claims. A subsidy can be claimed in respect of employees of an impacted business on the payroll and in receipt of gross wages between €151.50 and €1,462 subject to limited exceptions in relation to connected persons during the period of the scheme.
Connected persons includes the husband, wife, civil partner or relative of the employer, and relative includes a lineal descendant, brother, sister, uncle aunt, nice or nephew. I have been advised by Revenue that only connected persons on the payroll of the employer and paid at any time between 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020 are eligible for EWSS. Thus newly hired connected persons are not considered eligible employees.
In recognition of the exclusion from TWSS of new entities, seasonal employees and new hires, under EWSS eligible employers can back date a claim for the EWSS to 1 July 2020 where the employer was not eligible for TWSS or, where the employer had employees not eligible for TWSS. These cases will be dealt with as part of a ‘sweepback’ with payment to employers made in September.
Finally, I would draw the attention of the Deputy to the comprehensive information on the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme, including guidance for employers who wish to make a claim under the ‘sweepback’ process which is available on the Revenue website.
https://www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/communications/documents/ewss-guidelines.pdf