Restart Grant Plus Scheme
Applications are now open for the Restart Grant Plus Scheme, which gives grants of between €4,000 and €25,000 to businesses to help them to re-open.
The Restart Grant Plus Scheme was part of the Government’s July Stimulus package, a €7.4bn package of measures and it replaces and supersedes the existing restart grant schemes.
The scheme is open to those with less than 250 employees that have reopened or planned to reopen and have seen a 25% reduction in turnover between 1 April and 30 June 2020.
Key changes to the Restart Grant Plus Scheme:
- €300m additional funding in addition to €250m previously committed
- Grant amount has increased substantially. Minimum grant is now €4,000 and maximum is €25,000. Previous grant amounts were €2,000 and €10,000 respectively
- Medium sized companies now eligible Companies with up to 250 employees can now apply (previously the grant was for companies with less than 50 employees)
- Increased eligibility Non-rateable B&Bs, sports clubs with commercial activities and trading charity shops are now eligible
Businesses that received a grant under the first scheme can re-apply to local authorities to receive additional funding. For first-time applicants under Restart Plus, the minimum grant is €4,000 and the maximum is €25,000.
Interested businesses can apply through their local authority by 31st October 2020.
To qualify for a grant, the important criteria are:
- A business must be commercial and in the local authority rates system (apart from non-rateable B&Bs who can apply to Fáilte Ireland’s Covid-19 Adaptation Fund);
- It must have suffered a 25% loss of expected turnover between 1 April and 30 June 2020
- It must have less than 250 employees and turnover less than €25m;
- It must declare its intention to re-employ staff in receipt of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme
COVID Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS)
This scheme is intended to be in addition to the supports provided to employers under the Employer Wage Support Scheme (“EWSS”).
The new CRSS is aimed at businesses which have either been forced to close or only been able to trade at significantly reduced levels (i.e. 75% reduction in turnover from 2019 levels) as a result of restrictions imposed on them in response to Covid-19 (bars, hotels, hairdressers, certain retail outlets etc). The scheme is designed for certain businesses to drop in and out of the scheme based on Government restrictions on opening.
Qualifying businesses can apply to Revenue for a cash payment. Payments will be calculated on the basis of the company’s 2019 turnover and payments to the effect of 10% of the first €1m in turnover and 5% thereafter, will be made subject to a maximum weekly payment of €5,000.
The claims process will be available from mid-November. Once they have registered, a taxpayer will be able to make a claim for the period their business is restricted from operating. The scheme will operate on a self-assessment basis and is conditional on the taxpayer continuing to file all tax returns on time, holding a current tax clearance certificate and on the intention to resume the business when the restrictions are lifted.
The Scheme will run from 13 October 2020 until 31 March 2021.
Please do not hesitate to contact our office should you wish to claim one of the above schemes or require further information.