Revenue Issues Update to Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme

Over the past few weeks, The Wheel has been made aware by several of our members of the possibility of them not qualifying for the Employment Wages Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) due to receiving funding under the government’s charity stability scheme.

If the funding under the stability scheme was taken into account when assessing a drop in income in the period July to December 2020, it might result in that reduction being less than 30% and therefore fall outside EWSS eligibility criteria.

We are delighted to say that following representations by The Wheel's Director of Finance, Tony Ward, Revenue have reviewed the eligibility guidance and are now satisfied that as the stability scheme specifically excluded the funding of wages and salaries, any funding from the stability scheme may be excluded in assessing EWSS eligibility.

The specific section/wording on page 7 states: “COVID-19 related State funded grants/income supports received to meet operational costs other than staff wages, where eligibility is based on a percentage turnover reduction test, may be excluded from the definition of turnover when assessing EWSS eligibility. If any doubt exists regarding the treatment of specific grant funding, guidance from Revenue should be sought through the relevant Revenue Division/Branch responsible for the tax affairs of the employer concerned.”

The Wheel is extremely grateful to Revenue for openly engaging with this issue which was having a potentially detrimental impact on charities and for quickly clarifying the guidance once we brought the issue to their attention.

If anyone wishes to discuss any of the detail, Revenue are open to answering your queries, or you can contact Tony directly here: tony@wheel.ie.