Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
369. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Finance the status of the compliance programme for the Covid-19 restrictions support scheme; the number of employers that have been inspected; the number of cases requiring further investigation; the number of employers that have been sanctioned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42730/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS), which was introduced by Section 11 of the Finance Act 2020, was a targeted support for businesses significantly impacted by restrictions introduced by the Government to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
The scheme was available to companies, self-employed individuals and partnerships who carried on a trade or trading activities from a business premises that was subjected to restrictions that prohibited or considerably restricted customer access. The scheme was designed to help traders meet their costs at a time when they could not provide goods or services to their customers from their business premises, or could only do so to a limited extent, due to COVID-19 related restrictions. It was not a condition of the CRSS that a business had to be an employer to be eligible for the scheme.
The CRSS operated on a self-assessment basis, and claimants were required to satisfy themselves that they were correctly eligible for the scheme before registering for it or claiming payments. Claimants had to undergo a two-stage verification process, with compliance managed in real-time at each stage. They were first required to register for the scheme and make a self-declaration in relation to their eligibility. They were then required to review their continued eligibility for the scheme before making a claim for payment in respect of each claim period. Furthermore, to qualify for the CRSS, all businesses were required to hold tax clearance and compliance checks on this were undertaken in all cases, with no business being allowed access to the scheme in the absence of tax clearance.
I am advised that Revenue risk assessed applicants at both registration and payment stage through a combination of systemised and manual verification checks. In total, approximately 26,000 taxpayers applied for the scheme. The eligibility and compliance checks undertaken resulted in almost 4,000 applicants being refused entry to the scheme.
Where Revenue formally determined that an applicant was not eligible for the CRSS, the legislation governing the scheme afforded an applicant the right to appeal this determination to the Tax Appeals Commission which is an independent statutory body. A total of 76 appeals relating to CRSS were received by the Tax Appeals Commission.
Claimants who qualified for the scheme had the facility to submit claims in advance which, in a small number of cases, resulted in overpayments as the public health restrictions sometimes changed at short notice. Where overpayments arose, Revenue has engaged with the businesses concerned to recoup any monies due. Revenue has confirmed that, where repayment of the amount owed as a single payment could cause financial difficulties for the business, engagement takes place to agree a suitable solution, including the option to spread repayments over a period of time.
A list of businesses that received payments under the CRSS was published on www.revenue.ie in May 2022.
