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Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme Repayments

Questions and Answers

What do I do if I owe money to Revenue from the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme?

I availed of the TWSS last year but I received more subsidy payments than I was entitled to. What do I do now?

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS), was set up in March 2020, to provide direct financial support for businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic to help them retain their employees. However, many employers that availed of the scheme now have repayments to make to Revenue.
 
Most of these repayments arise as, during the initial phase of the scheme, Revenue paid the maximum subsidy amount of €410 per week for each eligible employee even if they were not entitled to this amount. At the time Revenue requested that employers hold any excess that was not due to each eligible employee so that it could be repaid to Revenue at a later date.
 
Also, employers who claimed the subsidy but who did not meet the eligibility criteria for the scheme i.e. a reduction in turnover of 25% for Q2 2020 and cashflow difficulties caused by COVID-19, will also have repayments to make to Revenue.
 

How do I check if I owe money?

  • The first step is to log in to ROS and review the TWSS reconciliation information that has been sent to you. 
  • Once you receive the reconciliation calculation you can accept it if you feel it is correct or you can make corrections if you feel that the information in the calculation is wrong.
  • You have until 30 June to either accept or amend the calculation.
 
Note: There are a small number of employers whose reconciliation is not yet available, but they should receive it in the very near future and Revenue will contact them when this information is available. These may be employers who have raised issues with Revenue on their TWSS claim or employers who have sent additional information to revenue which they are reviewing.
 

What’s next?

  • Employers should have provided Revenue with details of the TWSS subsidy paid to all employees on each payslip with a J9 PRSI class. If you have not provided some or all of this information you can do so now through ROS.
  • If the amount owed to Revenue is €500 or less then Revenue consider the account to be balanced and, once you are happy that the information on the calculation is correct, you can chose to accept the calculation and that is the matter closed.
  • If there is additional subsidies owed to you by Revenue then these amounts will be refunded as soon as you accept the calculation of the underpayment.
  • If you accept that the calculation is correct and you owe money to Revenue you will then have to make this repayment to Revenue.
 

How do I make this repayment?

  • You can pay back what is owed through ROS by Credit Card/Debit Card/Direct Debit instruction.
 

What if I am having trouble making the repayment?

  • If you are eligible for Tax Debt Warehousing you can chose to avail of this scheme for any outstanding TWSS balance due. If you are already availing of Tax Debt Warehousing, then it will automatically be warehoused once you accept the reconciliation calculation.
  • There is currently no ability to pay the outstanding amounts by Phased Payment Arrangement (i.e. for employers that do not qualify for debt warehousing and don’t have the ability to pay the funds in a lump sum) but Revenue are working on this to try and make it available as an option going forward.

 

 

 
 

Date published 25 Mar 2021 | Last updated 25 Mar 2021

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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