30 Jun Finance (Covid-19 and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021 published
The Government have now published the Finance (Covid-19 and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021. The Bill includes amendments to existing supports which were announced in the Economic Recovery Plan 2021.
We have outlined a short summary of the measures contained in the Bill below. More detailed information on the measures, including the new Business Resumption Support Scheme (BRSS) and the 10% rate of stamp duty on the bulk purchase of residential property, is available on the Irish Tax Institute website.
• Section 2 of the Bill amends the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) to provide for the extension of the scheme to 31 December 2021 and the retention of the current enhanced subsidy rates until 30 September 2021. It also retains the qualifying criteria of a 30% reduction in turnover or customer orders and increases the reference period to assess eligibility for the scheme, from 6 to 12 months, with effect from 1 July 2021.
• Section 3 of the Bill amends the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) to provide for the extension of the specified period of the scheme to 30 September 2021. The Minister for Finance continues to have the power to extend the scheme further to 31 December 2021, by order.
• Section 4 of the Bill provides for the extension of the CRSS to 30 September 2021 and the enhanced “restart week” payments under the scheme for businesses reopening after a period of restrictions.
• Section 5 of the Bill provides for the new Business Resumption Support Scheme (BRSS). You can find more information regarding the provisions relating to this new support for businesses in more detail on the Irish Tax Institute website.
• Section 6 of the Bill provides for the extension of the reduced 9% VAT rate for the tourism sector from 31 December 2021 to 31 August 2022.
• Section 7 of the Bill inserts a new section 28D into the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020 to provide for warehousing of EWSS overpayments received by employers which must be refunded to Revenue.
• Sections 8, 9 ,10, 11 and 12 give effect to the announcement by the Government of the extension of the Debt Warehousing Scheme as part of the Economic Recovery Plan for refunds of Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) payments, PAYE, income tax, VAT and PRSI:
o Period 1 (the “Covid-19 restricted trading phase”) will extend until 31 December 2021;
o Period 2 (“the zero interest phase”) will run from 1 January 2022 until 31 December 2022 during which no interest will be charged on warehoused relevant tax from Period 1; and
o Period 3 (“the reduced interest phase”) will run from 1 January 2023 until the relevant tax is repaid to Revenue. During Period 3, interest will be charged at 3% per annum on warehoused relevant tax from Period 1.
Section 13 of the Bill gives statutory effect to the Financial Resolution passed on 19 May 2021 which imposes a new 10% rate of stamp duty on the bulk purchase of residential property. Further details on this section are outlined on the Irish Tax Institute website.
Section 7 of Revenue’s CRSS Guidelines provides more information and examples on claiming the “restart week” payments. An 8-week deadline applies to the submission of such claims.
Follow this link to the Finance (Covid-19 and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021