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Support for businesses impacted by COVID-19 through the commercial rates waiver
From Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
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The Government announced on 23 February that the commercial rates waiver put in place for the first quarter of 2021 will be extended to the second quarter. It applies to businesses most seriously affected by ongoing restrictions. The waiver provides continued support for ratepayers and local authorities given the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 and the associated public health restrictions.
The 2021 waiver is necessarily more targeted than was the case in 2020. It is aimed at supporting businesses closed or very seriously impacted by current restrictions, which ordinarily provide employment and generate economic activity.
Automatic eligibility is extended to:
- retail
- hospitality including hotels, pubs and restaurants, leisure and entertainment
- personal services such as hairdressers and barbers
- health services
- various other categories
The waiver will be administered by local authorities and details were issued to local authorities on the 27 January.
An initial three-month waiver of rates for businesses forced to close business due to COVID-19, was announced in May 2020. In recognition of the fact that not only were many ratepayers forced to close business due to the public health requirements, but also many that remained open suffered significant reductions in turnover, the waiver was extended from three to six months until 27 September 2020. A 100% waiver was applied to all businesses with the exception of a small number of categories, mainly banks, utilities, large supermarkets and corporates. The rationale for the exclusion of certain categories of ratepayers is that their operations are not as severely impacted by the pandemic, coupled with the need to direct resources appropriately. 600m euro was allocated by Government to fund the cost of the six-month waiver, which takes the form of a credit in lieu of rates.
In Budget 2021, the Government announced an extension of the waiver for the final quarter of the year (until end of December 2020) at an additional cost of 300m euro. The criteria for the extended waiver remained the same. A total of 900m euro was allocated by Government to fund the cost of a waiver of commercial rates for nine months to the end of December, for eligible businesses. This unprecedented measure provided support to businesses and certainty to our local authorities.
Any queries in relation to the application of the waiver should be directed to the rates office / section in the relevant local authority.
The majority of funding relating to the combined nine-month rates waiver was paid to local authorities by the end of December 2020. Due to a small number of late- arising cases, some further payments may be made in January 2021. The amount paid to each local authority by end December 2020 is outlined in the table below:
| Local Authority | Total Payment (at end December 2020) for 9 Month Commercial Rates Waiver | Estimated number of rate accounts in receipt of waiver |
| Carlow County Council | €7,666,442.00 | 1,957 |
| Cavan County Council | €5,923,214.51 | 1,661 |
| Clare County Council | €13,569,087.12 | 3,321 |
| Cork City Council | €54,255,517.92 | 8,166 |
| Cork County Council | €34,661,631.94 | 9,094 |
| Donegal County Council | €14,987,401.00 | 4,159 |
| Dublin City Council | €160,435,139.86 | 18,858 |
| Dun Laoire/Rathdown County Council | €44,490,504.51 | 4,915 |
| Fingal County Council | €80,951,299.00 | 5,894 |
| Galway City Council | €20,722,672.07 | 3,478 |
| Galway County Council | €10,491,034.18 | 3,544 |
| Kerry County Council | €18,469,939.17 | 4,231 |
| Kildare County Council | €22,159,259.00 | 4,050 |
| Kilkenny County Council | €8,633,723.50 | 2,268 |
| Laois County Council | €5,987,787.62 | 1,420 |
| Leitrim County Council | €2,176,750.30 | 794 |
| Limerick City & County Council | €25,016,190.00 | 4,546 |
| Longford County Council | €3,996,936.48 | 945 |
| Louth County Council | €19,385,802.28 | 3,237 |
| Mayo County Council | €13,090,158.31 | 3,330 |
| Meath County Council | €18,629,990.00 | 3,563 |
| Monaghan County Council | €6,061,545.08 | 1,934 |
| Offaly County Council | €4,426,109.00 | 1,674 |
| Roscommon County Council | €4,014,759.00 | 1,421 |
| Sligo County Council | €5,469,375.08 | 1,503 |
| South Dublin County Council | €59,115,861.79 | 6,740 |
| Tipperary County Council | €12,746,687.00 | 2,600 |
| Waterford City & County Council | €14,837,557.52 | 3,563 |
| Westmeath County Council | €8,221,947.50 | 2,007 |
| Wexford County Council | €15,994,934.01 | 3,434 |
| Wicklow County Council | €13,326,036.49 | 3,520 |
| Total | €729,915,293.24 | 121,827 |
