Re-Opening Ireland New Business Supports have been announced

Re-Opening Ireland New Business Supports have been announced. It was a welcome to hear the details of the plan to reopen Ireland over the coming months. There is no question that that the slow phased re-opening is necessary for everyone’s ongoing health and welfare, but there is also no doubt that this will continue to have a huge impact on all business as we adapt and change to a new normal.

The Government introduced a number of additional measures to aid the economy as the Covid-19 restrictions start to be lifted which include the following:

A €6 billon support package for farmers, small, medium and larger businesses has been agreed by Cabinet. It includes the following:

A €10,000 restart grant for micro and small businesses based on a rates/waiver rebate from 2019;
A three-month commercial rates waiver for impacted businesses;
A €2 billon Pandemic Stabilisation and Recovery Fund within the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), which will make capital available to medium and large enterprises on commercial terms;
A €2 billon COVID-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme to support lending to SMEs for terms ranging from three months to six years, which will be below market interest rates;
The ‘warehousing’ of tax liabilities for a period of 12 months after recommencement of trading during which time there will be no debt enforcement action taken by Revenue and no interest charge accruing in respect of the warehoused debt;

For earlier supports announced, please refer to our previous newsletter HERE

Revenue confirms ‘warehousing’ of COVID-19 related tax debt for businesses

Following this announcement, Revenue has assured businesses severely impacted by COVID-19 that it will continue to work with them to agree payment arrangements that support both the capacity of the business to resume trading as well as the national recovery, post COVID-19.

While the finer details of the ‘warehousing’ measures have still to be worked out, Revenue has confirmed the following:

COVID-19 related VAT and Payroll tax debts, due from 1 March 2020 to the date when sectoral restrictions are lifted, will be parked for a period of 12 months
no interest will accrue on the tax debts during the 12 month period
thereafter, the COVID-19 related tax debts will carry a reduced interest rate of 3% (down from 10%), until the debt is paid
the timeframe allowed to pay the ‘warehoused’ debt will be flexible and determined by the ability of the business to pay both COVID-19 related debts as well as meeting its ongoing tax liabilities as they arise in the normal course
for the warehousing arrangement to apply, all returns must be filed in accordance with the Revenue guidance that has applied since the start of the current pandemic.