New Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme reporting requirement

To assist employers in ensuring continued eligibility for the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), from 30 June 2021 all employers will be required to complete and submit, through ROS, an online monthly EWSS eligibility review form. 

The initial submission should be made between 21 - 30 July 2021. We expect the portal to be available on Wednesday 21 July. 

Employers will need to provide details of actual monthly vat-exclusive turnover or customer order values for 2019, together with the same detail for the first six months of 2021. 

They will also need to provide details of monthly projections for the remainder of 2021, i.e., July to December 2021. 

On-going reporting requirement 

On 15th of every subsequent month during the scheme operation, employers will need to provide details of the actual results for the previous month, together with reviewing the original projections provided to ensure they remain valid. This can be summarised as follows:

Submission Due Date	Actual monthly figures to be returned	Projected monthly figures to be returned
30 July 2021	January to December 2019 January to June 2021	July to December 2021
15 August 2021	July 2021	August to December 2021
15 September 2021	August 2021	September to December 2021
15 October 2021	September 2021	October to December 2021
15 November 2021	October 2021	November and December 2021
15 December 2021	November 2021	December 2021

As part of the monthly submission, the following declaration needs to be signed by employers or their agents on their behalf:

“I declare that this represents a true and accurate record of actual monthly turnover / customer orders and my best estimate of forward-looking monthly turnover / customer order projections.”

Businesses who commenced trading between 1 January and 31 October 2019 are required to complete all fields in the eligible review form and their eligibility review calculation will be adjusted systematically to account for the shorter review period, i.e., date of commencement in 2019 to 31 December 2019 versus equivalent dates in 2021. 

Upon receipt of the EWSS eligibility review forms, Revenue will be contacting randomly-selected employers, together with employers where clarity is required or where high-risk practices are identified. 

Failure to complete and submit the EWSS eligibility review form that confirms the requisite reduction and related declaration will result in suspension of payment of EWSS claims. 

Employer no longer eligible for EWSS

If following review of actual and projected turnover / customer orders, an employer no longer satisfies the ‘30% reduction test’, they must deregister for EWSS through “Manage Tax Registration” on ROS with effect from the following day (that being the 1st of the month) and cease claiming the subsidy immediately. 

If an employer becomes aware prior to the end of the month that they will no longer meet the eligibility criteria (e.g. unexpected donation or grant received at the start of a month), they should de-register immediately and cease to claim subsidies. 

Subsidies correctly claimed in accordance with the terms and conditions of the scheme prior to de-registration will not be repayable. 

Re-registration where employer becomes eligible again 

If circumstances change the following month and the employer is again eligible, they can re-register and claim for pay dates from the date of reregistration. It is not possible to backdate the claim to include the period of deregistration as that correctly reflected the employer’s expectation at that time. 

Retention of documentation 

Revenue requires employers to retain appropriate documentation, including copies of projections, to demonstrate continued eligibility over the specified period. It is reasonably expected that the assumptions which underpin the projections will be reliable and reflect the operating conditions of the business. However, Revenue appreciates that in exceptional circumstances, certain unforeseen events may occur which require the employer to revise the original budget estimate e.g. imposition of further Government restrictions (post the review date) impacting trade, receipt of an unexpected donation, entering into a significant new sales contract, etc. 

Inappropriate claims

Where Revenue determines that an employer, at any time over the term of the scheme, claimed and received payment by applying accounting practices that are clearly not appropriate, or by deliberately misrepresenting the true financial situation of the business, it will be excluded from the EWSS in its entirety. No further claims will be accepted, and all subsidies paid and PRSI credit issued will be immediately repayable together with interest and penalties. The business may also face possible criminal prosecution.

A copy of the latest guidelines can be found here to review the eligibility criteria https://www.revenue.ie/en/employing-people/documents/ewss/ewss-guidelines.pdf

Our tax team can provide you with expert knowledge and support to ensure that the complex compliance requirements of employment tax and payroll are met. Contact our team to discuss your needs.