Just over half of employers who availed of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) were contacted by Revenue on Monday to advise them of the balance they must repay.
The emergency scheme was introduced by the Government almost a year ago to get much needed financial assistance to employers and employees who were seriously impacted by public health measures introduced to fight the spread of Covid-19.
Revenue operated the scheme in two phases. First, a transitional phase saw eligible employers paid a maximum subsidy of €410 in respect of each eligible employee, regardless of the employee’s income for January and February 2020.
This was followed by the operational phase from May until August where eligible employers were reimbursed a subsidy based on each eligible employee’s average net weekly pay for January and February 2020.
Approximately 90 per cent of the balances due to Revenue directly relate to the transitional phase of the scheme whereby employers were paid the equivalent of €410 a week for each eligible employee for the first the six weeks of the scheme.
Revenue said this meant that many employers received a payment that exceeded the subsidy correctly due.
At the time of joining the TWSS, employers made a declaration that they would repay any excess subsidy payments arising.
Revenue provided employers with guidelines on how to calculate the correct subsidy amount during the transitional phase and advised them to only pay this amount and to retain any surplus for repayment.
Revenue also advised that a “reconciliation” of subsidy payments made under the TWSS would take place after the scheme had finished.
Reconciliation balance
To facilitate TWSS reconciliation, employers were required to report the actual subsidy that was paid to their employees, for each pay slip and each pay date.
On Monday, Revenue advised that most employers can now access their TWSS reconciliation balances via its online service. The reconciliation balance is based on the information provided to the tax authorities by the employer.
It is the difference between the subsidy amounts paid to the employer by Revenue and the subsidy amounts properly due and paid to each eligible employee.
Approximately 44 per cent of employers who availed of TWSS do not have any balance to repay or are due further TWSS payments from Revenue, while 56 per cent of such employers have a reconciliation balance to repay.
Brian Boyle, head of Revenue’s accountant general’s and strategic planning division, said the reconciliation information is available to review and finalise until June 30th.
“In the rare circumstance where an employer believes that the information he or she previously provided is incorrect, and that the reconciliation balance is therefore incorrect, he or she should review the subsidy paid data previously submitted and make any corrections required,” he said.
“This will result in a revised reconciliation balance, which will be immediately available in Revenue’s online service.
“While the majority of employers will be able to access their TWSS reconciliation balance today, we are still calculating the reconciliation balance for a small number of employers who have provided all subsidy paid data.
“For employers who have a payable reconciliation balance and who are eligible to avail of the Debt Warehousing Scheme, the TWSS reconciliation balance to be repaid may be warehoused.” He added that those not availing of that scheme can pay their outstanding reconciliation balance online or apply for a phased payment arrangement and pay over an extended timeline.
