The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) will replace the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) from 1 September 2020.

Today (20 August), Revenue confirmed that eligible employers, or the payroll or tax agent acting on their behalf, can now register for the EWSS through Revenue’s Online Service, ROS.

Revenue has emphasised that registration applications will only be processed if the employer:

• Is registered for PAYE/PRSI
• Has a bank account linked to that PAYE/PRSI registration, and
• Has tax clearance

As part of the registration process an employer, or their payroll or tax agent, must make a self-declaration to Revenue confirming eligibility for the scheme, undertake to adhere to the required terms and conditions and retain all relevant records relating to the scheme. 

It is necessary for employers who are currently claiming TWSS in respect of eligible employees to separately register for the EWSS as different eligibility conditions apply to both schemes.

Claim 

Eligible employers may however continue to claim TWSS in respect of eligible employees for pay dates up to 31 August.

For pay dates from 1 September onwards, EWSS can be claimed in respect of these employees, subject to the employer being registered for EWSS and meeting all eligibility conditions.

Registration for the EWSS is effective from the date of application and cannot be backdated. It is therefore imperative that registration is undertaken prior to the first pay date in respect of which EWSS is being claimed.

However, eligible employers registered for EWSS may make a claim for subsidy payments under the scheme in respect of new hires and seasonal workers, from 1 July, subject to limited exceptions.

Information for employers on how to make an application for retrospective EWSS payments for these employees will be available next week.

Detailed Revenue guidelines outlining the eligibility criteria for EWSS and how the scheme will operate are also available.

Qualifying criteria

To qualify for the EWSS, an employer must file their payroll submission electronically, hold a valid tax clearance certificate, be able to demonstrate that their business will experience a 30% reduction in turnover or customer orders between 1 July and 31 December, and that the decline in business is caused by COVID-19.

The reduction in turnover or customer orders is relative to:

• The same period in 2019 where the business was in existence prior to 1 July 2019,
• Where the business commenced trading between 1 July and 1 November 2019, the date of commencement to 31 December 2019, or
• Where a business commenced after 1 November 2019, the projected turnover or orders for 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2020. 

Amount payable

EWSS provides a flat-rate subsidy to qualifying employers based on the numbers of paid and eligible employees on their payroll.

The rate of weekly subsidy the employer will receive per paid eligible employee is as follows:

Additionally, the scheme applies a reduced rate of employer PRSI of 0.5% on wages paid which are eligible for the subsidy payment.

As the normal rate of PRSI for a Class A employment with weekly earnings of €395.01 and above is 11.05%, this represents a significant reduction in the eligible employer’s PRSI liability.