The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) and the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) were economy-wide supports that played a central role in helping to maintain the link between employers and employees between March 2020 and May 2022. TWSS provided supports to over 689,000 employees linked to over 67,000 employers throughout the scheme. EWSS provided supports to almost 52,000 employers to secure employment for nearly 746,000 employees.
As regards eligibility for the schemes, an employer was required to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of Revenue, that its business experienced a decline of turnover or customer order values of 25% and 30% for TWSS and EWSS respectively, and that the decline in trade was as a result of a disruption to business caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the employer was required to be tax compliant.
The schemes operated on a on a self-assessment basis, with employers claiming the subsidies through their payroll submissions to Revenue. Detailed guidance was provided on both schemes. It would be incorrect to suggest that businesses received the support correctly and subsequently had the supports recalled.
In view of the substantial amounts of public money invested in these schemes, Revenue undertook a programme of compliance checks to ensure that claimant employers were properly eligible and complied fully with scheme requirements. Generally, these checks identified a very high level of compliance but, in both schemes, it was necessary to recover subsidy payments for which employers were not eligible from a small proportion of businesses.
Revenue does not seek repayment of subsidies from employers who met the eligibility criteria attaching to the various schemes. I am advised that Revenue’s compliance programmes review the records available at the time the claims were submitted to ensure projections were prepared on a reliable basis and in line with legislation and guidance. Recoupment occurs only where review procedures show evidence of overpayment or fraud.
In October 2022, Revenue announced an important and significant extension to the Debt Warehousing scheme in light of the current challenging economic situation for businesses. Under the scheme, businesses with warehoused debt were due to enter into an arrangement with Revenue to commence repaying that debt by the end of this year (or by 1 May 2023 for those subject to the extended deadline). Given the current economic uncertainty, Revenue has extended that timeline to 1 May 2024. This extension also applies to EWSS and TWSS repayments and means that businesses no longer have the challenge of making arrangements to repay their warehoused debt (including EWSS and TWSS repayments) until 1 May 2024.
For those businesses who do not qualify for the Debt Warehousing scheme and are encountering difficulties repaying any EWSS/TWSS overpayments, Revenue will agree flexible phased payment arrangements to allow them pay off their debt in instalments over a period of time. Revenue will always work proactively with businesses towards finding tailored solutions which are flexible and take account of the financial circumstances of each business concerned.
