Government measures in key jurisdictions 5th edition - Flipbook - Page 66
Ireland
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Criminal trials due to commence in the Central and Circuit Courts will not start, with
the exception of single person trials in the Special Criminal Court which may
commence from 1 March 2021. Priority will be given to urgent matters.
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Court offices will continue to accept documents by post, DX, drop-box and e-filing
depending on the jurisdiction. An appointment is required to physically attend at court
offices.
The situation is very fluid and will continue to be reviewed on a week-by-week and courtby-court basis. Updates may be found on the Courts Service website here.
Tax
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Irish Revenue introduced an employment wage subsidy scheme (“EWSS”) from 1 July
2020 which ran alongside the temporary wage subsidy scheme (“TWSS”), discussed
below, until 31 August 2020. From 1 September 2020, the EWSS replaced the TWSS.
The EWSS was expected to run until 31 March 2021 but it was announced that the
employer supports would continue until the end of 2021. To qualify, employers must
be able to demonstrate that their business will experience a 30% reduction in turnover
or customer orders between 1 January and 31 July 2021 and this disruption is caused
by Covid-19. This reduction is relative to the same period for 2019 where the business
operated for the whole of the comparative period in 2019, the date of commencement
to 30 June 2019 where trading commenced between 1 January and 1 May 2019 or
where a business commenced after 1 May 2019, the projected turnover or customer
orders. The scheme also previously applied to the same 30% reduction between 1 July
2020 and 31 December 2020. Under the scheme, a subsidy can be claimed in respect
of eligible employees of an impacted business on the payroll. The scheme provides a
flat-rate subsidy to qualifying employers based on the numbers of eligible employees
on the employer’s payroll. Employees are eligible if they are in receipt of weekly gross
wages between Ä151.50 and Ä1,462. New hires and seasonal workers are eligible and
claims can be backdated to 1 July 2020. The scheme will operate on a self-assessment
basis with income tax being deducted at payroll. As at 18 February 2021, 48,600
employers are registered for the EWSS and over 526,800 employees had received at
least one payment under the EWSS.
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The TWSS enabled certain employers to retain certain staff while at the same time
paying staff nothing or a top-up on the Revenue subsidy paid by the Irish Revenue.
The scheme operated until 31 August and from 4 May was based on each
employee’s normal net weekly pay. The subsidy payment is not subject to income
tax through payroll but is taxed at year end. In total, 69,500 employers registered
for the TWSS and over 663,100 employees had received at least one payment
under the TWSS.
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Irish Revenue have introduced temporary income tax relief for self-employed
individuals including claims to have their 2020 losses and certain unused capital
allowances carried back and deducted from their profits for the year of assessment
2019, subject to a Ä25,000 limit. There is also an acceleration of the relief allowing
self-employed individuals to make interim claims based on the estimated amount
of relief available to them.
Has any new
legislation been
introduced in light
of Covid-19?
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Government measures in key jurisdictions
