Questions and Answers

I have employees earning over €76k. How will the changes to the Wage Subsidy Scheme affect me?

I am an employer with 2 employees who were earning over €76k per annum before the COVID-19 crisis. How will the changes to the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme affect me?

Revenue have announced further changes to the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme.

It is very important to note that the changes that affect employees who were earning over €76k before the COVID-19 pandemic took effect on 16 April 2020. (The earliest date that all other changes will take effect is May 4th however this date is liable to change to a later date.)

Employees who had average net weekly wages of over €960 (roughly €76k per annum gross) before the COVID-19 crisis now qualify for a subsidy under the wage subsidy scheme but only if they have taken a significant pay cut and also that pay cut has resulted in their net weekly wages (including the subsidy) being reduced below €960 per week.

The rate of the subsidy will vary between anything from €0 to €350 using a tiered approach, which is linked to the extent to which the employer is paying additional gross salary as a top-up payment as follows:

When running payroll, if the amount entered by the employer in gross pay is up to 60% of the employee’s previous average net weekly wage then the amount of the subsidy will be €350 per week
If the amount entered in gross pay is more than 60% but not more than 80% of the employee’s previous average net weekly wage then the amount of the subsidy will be €205 per week
If the amount entered in gross pay is more than 80% of the employee’s previous average net weekly wages then no subsidy will be payable

Published: 20/04/2020

Date published 20 Apr 2020

This article is intended to inform rather than advise and is based on legislation and practice at the time. Taxpayer’s circumstances do vary and if you feel that the information provided is beneficial it is important that you contact us before implementation. If you take, or do not take action as a result of reading this article, before receiving our written endorsement, we will accept no responsibility for any financial loss incurred.

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