Minister Donohoe encourages eligible businesses to claim CRSS

The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe TD, has today (Friday) encouraged eligible businesses to make their claim for the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) for the period of restrictions up to 1 December 2020.

The CRSS is a targeted support for businesses directly impacted by restrictions introduced by the Government under public health regulations to combat the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic with the result that they have to temporarily close or significantly restrict access to their premises. Under the Scheme, qualifying businesses can apply to the Revenue Commissioners for a cash payment up to a maximum of €5,000 for each week that their business is affected by the Covid restrictions.

The details of the Scheme are set out in Finance Bill 2020 and the Legislation provides that a claim for the CRSS must be made within 8 weeks, of the commencement of the claim period.

The most recent period of restrictions covers the period up to 1 December. If a business was restricted in a relevant geographical location at Level 3 their claim period runs from 13 October to 1 December, whereas the claim period for a business affected by Level 4 or 5 restrictions runs from 19 October to 1 December. The CRSS claim systems is operated on a weekly basis, therefore

for claim periods beginning on 13 October 2020, businesses must register and claim before 13 December at the latest ;
for claim periods beginning on 22 October 2020, when nationwide Level 5 restrictions were put in place, businesses must register and claim before 20 December at the latest .

One payment will be made in respect of the claim period, with payments made within 3 days of a qualifying claim.

Minister Donohoe said:

“The Covid Restrictions Support Scheme has provided much needed support to almost 13,000 businesses which have had to close as a result of the restrictions necessary to address the spread of Covid 19. There may be some business who are eligible for the scheme but have not yet registered or made a claim. I want to encourage those businesses to sign up for the scheme within the 8 week claim period.

For businesses who may reopen this week, they are no longer eligible for CRSS, however they may claim an extra week payment to help them with expected costs of reopening. This may be claimed through the Revenue Online System as is the case with the CRSS claims.

Additional seasonal support will be provided through CRSS to qualifying business that will continue to stay closed, through December, due to the extension of public health restrictions announced last Friday. For certain businesses, Christmas is a particularly busy trading period, and we recognise that by asking them to remain closed this incurs an additional financial impact. The additional support will be up to a double payment of CRSS support for a period of three weeks subject to the statutory maximum payment of €5,000 per week. This will be payable for the weeks commencing 21st and 28th December and 4th January.

The CRSS is just one part of the Government’s supports which also include the wage subsidy schemes and temporary reduction in the VAT rate. Specific sectoral schemes are also being rolled out which will support many businesses who may not qualify for CRSS.

I’m encouraging all eligible businesses to register with Revenue on ROS for the scheme so that they can participate in the scheme with payments issuing in 2-3 days following receipt of a valid claim.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Making a Claim:

There are two steps required to make a claim under the CRSS. The qualifying person must first register for CRSS on Revenue Online Service’ (ROS) and then complete a claim in respect of a claim period or claim periods.

The information provided at registration stage provides many of the requirements for the claim, including details pertaining to the business and premises, average turnover for 2019 (or 2020 in the case of a new business), and any other income which is included in their VAT 3 return. The claims step will require the taxpayer to select the fixed business premises in respect of which a claim is made, the claim start date and the claim end date. Taxpayers will also be required to declare that the information provided is correct and complete and to acknowledge that, as a recipient of the CRSS, details of the business will be published on the Revenue website.

For any future restricted periods, a business can make a claim prospectively for the expected restrictive period, in blocks of 3 weeks or part thereof. Businesses will reassess their eligibility for each claim. This will allow the system to take account of any change in circumstances and minimise the risk of overpayments.

Restart week

As the Minister announced last week, businesses who may reopen this week are no longer eligible for CRSS. However, these businesses may claim an extra ‘restart’ week from next week as an additional support to them in meeting the costs of reopening.

Additional seasonal support for businesses who cannot reopen through December

Government last week decided that additional seasonal support will be provided through CRSS to qualifying business that remain closed through December due to public health restrictions introduced by the Government to combat the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is in recognition of the additional financial impact on those business of being closed at Christmas time, which for many would be a particularly busy trading period.

The additional support will be up to a double payment of weekly CRSS support for a period of three weeks subject to the statutory maximum payment of €5,000 per week. This will be payable for the weeks beginning 21st and 28th December and 4th January. All businesses benefiting from this additional seasonal support will still qualify for the additional ‘restart week’ under CRSS once they can reopen.

The details of the scheme have been published in Finance Bill 2020 and the key features of the scheme are:

CRSS is designed to assist those businesses, who as a direct result of the restrictions as set out in the public health Regulations in line with Government’s ‘Living with Covid-19’ Plan, have been forced to temporarily close or been significantly impacted in operating from their premises.
The scheme will generally operate when Level 3 or higher is in place and will cease when restrictions are lifted.
The scheme will apply to businesses where government restrictions prohibit or reduce access by customers to their business premises.
Qualifying businesses can apply to the Revenue Commissioners for a cash payment in respect of an advance credit for trading expenses for the period of the restrictions.
To qualify under the scheme, a business must be able to demonstrate that, because of the Covid restrictions, the turnover of the business in the period for which the restrictions are in operation, and for which a claim is made, will be no more than 25% of an amount equal to the average weekly turnover of the business in 2019 (or average weekly turnover in 2020 in the case of a new business) multiplied by the number of weeks in the period for which a claim is made.
Where amounts have been overclaimed, there are mechanisms in place for Revenue to re-coup these amounts at a later date.
The scheme will operate from 13 October 2020 to 31 March 2021 and there is provision for the Minister for Finance to vary aspects of the scheme by Ministerial Order.

Revenue have published an overview of the scheme with some detailed examples, together with guidance on the operation of the scheme on www.revenue.ie .