Revenue Commissioners

Tuesday, 14 November 2023

Questions (134, 136)

Louise O'Reilly

Question:

134. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Finance the money owed to Revenue due to overpayments arising from the temporary wage subsidy scheme, by sector, in tabular form. [49948/23]

View answer

136. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Finance the money owed to Revenue due to ineligible businesses accessing the temporary wage subsidy scheme, by sector, in tabular form. [49950/23]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Finance

I propose to take Questions Nos. 134 and 136 together.

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) operated from March to August 2020 and provided subsidies totalling €2.85 billion to over 67,000 employers to assist in maintaining the employment of over 689,000 employees.

I am advised that the scheme provided for payments based on specified percentages of an employee’s average weekly pay. However, in order to get the scheme up and running quickly during the emergency circumstances of 2020, for an initial “transition period” of 6 weeks, employers were paid a flat amount of €410 in respect of each eligible employee. Employers were asked to calculate the correct amount payable and retain the balance to be returned to Revenue as part of a “Reconciliation” exercise after the conclusion of the scheme.

I am further advised that Revenue operated a comprehensive campaign of compliance checks in respect of every employer availing of the scheme to ensure that they met the eligibility criteria and that the monies involved were properly paid out to employees.

Revenue’s compliance activity resulted in 1,945 employers (some 2.8% of claimant employers) being required to repay subsidies either wholly or partly. The repayments due amounted to in excess of €40 million.

The reconciliation exercise was conducted across all claimant employers after the close of the scheme and identified an aggregate liability of €308 million, the majority of which related to the initial transitional period of the scheme.

As of 9 November 2023, there is a balance of €37.35 million of TWSS liabilities outstanding as shown by sector in the table below. This is comprised of both TWSS compliance and reconciliation net amounts and it is not possible to separately apportion the amounts due to either compliance activities or the reconciliation exercise. Of this amount some €33 million is currently included in the tax debt warehouse with the remainder subject to collection activity. There is a further €7.9 million under appeal with the Tax Appeals Commission.

Sector	Amount Balance (€)
Accommodation and food service activities	7,531,738
Wholesale and retail trade; Repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	7,032,008
Human health and Social Work activities	3,526,988
Construction	3,425,379
Manufacturing	2,863,999
Professional, scientific and technical activities	2,641,563
Administrative and support service activities	2,081,373
Transportation and Storage	1,854,134
Education	1,144,137
Information and Communication	1,139,378
Other services activities	1,029,122
Arts, entertainment and recreation	874,497
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	795,245
Real estate activities	491,045
Water supply; Sewerage, Waste management and remediation activities	336,329
Financial and Insurance Activities	263,966
All other Sectors/Unknown	140,173
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security	95,063
Mining and Quarrying	62,115
Activities of households as employers of domestic personnel; Undifferentiated goods-and-service-producing activities of private households for own use	19,983
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply	2,161
Total	37,350,396

Question No. 135 answered with Question No. 133.

Question No. 136 answered with Question No. 134.