Our Covid-19 Resource is a summary of all supports available to businesses impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Please see a resource of articles below, listed by topic and date published.

We update this page regularly with the latest, most relevant information for you and your business.

We also post regularly to our twitter and Linkedin feed if you want to follow us there.

We are here to help. If you have any questions or concerns, please email info@avidpartners.ie or call Jamie O’Hanlon on 0818 303087.

Take care and stay safe.

From all the team at Avid Partners.

Tax Measures

• 17/09/2020:Revenue announce 4 week extension to file and pay deadline for those who file online. For customers who file their 2019 Self-assessed Income Tax Return and make the appropriate payment through the Revenue Online Service (ROS) in respect of Preliminary Tax for 2020 and any Income Tax balance due for 2019, the due date is now further extended from 12 November 2020 to Thursday, 10 December 2020. Read more
• 07/09/2020: Tax Debt, Warehousing and Interest Rate Reduction. Just announced…tax debt agreements reached with Revenue by 30 September can be extended beyond 2 years to a maximum of 5 at 3%. Read More
• 01/09/2020: VAT rate changes today from 23% to 21% for 6 months until 31/02/2020.
• 13/08/2020: The standard VAT Rate will be reduced temporarily from 23% to 21% effective September 1st. Is your business prepared for the changeover. Look at all systems/processes that may be impacted. Our checklist to help get you started.
• 06/08/2020: Tax measures announced in the July Stimulus package. The tax measures announced as part of the Government’s July Jobs Stimulus are now signed into law and are set out in the Financial Provisions (Covid-19) (No. 2) Act 2020. Revenue has provided detailed information on a range of tax measures contained in the Act including: measures to assist business deal with tax debt; temporary acceleration of Corporation Tax loss relief; temporary Income Tax relief for self employed; reduction of VAT from 23 to 21%; and, the introduction of the EWSS. Further details available here. 
• Temporary Income Tax relief for the self employed: On 6 August 2020, Revenue published further detail on tax relief for the self-employed who will incur losses in 2020 as a result of Covid-19. Self-employed individuals whose trade or profession was profitable in 2019 but who incur losses in 2020 can claim to have those losses, and certain unused capital allowances, carried back and deducted from their profits for the tax year 2019. Further details available here.
  
• Claiming tax relief for working from home in Ireland  8/07/2020 Since March, thousands of workers are working from home for the first time and may be unaware of tax relief available on home expenses. Read on for a summary of required conditions and supports available. 
• Credit Card Stamp Duty Extended 21/06/2020
• Benefit in Kind (BIK) on vehicles provided by Employer during Covid-19 restrictions 31/03/2020

Business Supports

• Fáilte Ireland Covid – 19 Adaption Fund: Supporting tourism and hospitality businesses who have incurred adaptation costs in order to re-open safely. Available grants up to €15,000 open for applications until 8 October 2020. Find details here
• Update  7 September 2020 – Government €2B Credit Guarantee Scheme: From today companies may apply for the scheme via the 3 participating finance providers: AIB, Bank of Ireland or Ulster Bank.  Applicants will have to declare that turnover or projected turnover has fallen by 15% because of the Corona pandemic. Eligible businesses will take out a loan of between €10,000 and €1M for a maximum term of 6 years at  a minimum interest rate of 2.48%, however interest rates will vary depending on he terms of the loan. Loan costs will also include a mandatory insurance charge. Further background here
• Update  7 September 2020 Micro Finance Ireland Business Loan Scheme: NEW COVID-19 Business Loan Scheme. Loans of between €5K and 25K.  Zero repayments for first 6 months and the equivalent of 12 months interest-free subject to certain terms and conditions. The COVID-19 Business Loan from Microfinance Ireland is a government initiative to support small businesses through the current challenges and protect job creation and sustainment in Ireland. If your business has been impacted by COVID-19 resulting in a reduction of 15% or more in turnover or profit, and you are unable to secure finance from banks and commercial lending providers, the MFI COVID-19 Business Loan may be an option to help your business. Loans can be used for working capital or changes required by the business to manage COVID19.  Read more
• Grants boost for firms hit by local lock down in Laois, Kildare and Offaly 14/08/20:  Local firms are eligible for a 20% increase in restart grants to a maximum total of 30,000 euros. Those that applied and received a grant previously, can re-apply and receive a second grant, with 20% additional on the new rate. See DBEI release for further details.
• Restart Grant for sole traders and micro businesses employing < 10. 14/08/2020: Up to €1,000 available to kick-start small businesses impacted by Covid – 19.  The scheme is aimed at sole traders who are not liable for commercial rates. Read More 

• Expanded business restart grant scheme opens for applications 10/08/2020: Applications have opened for the Restart Grant Plus Scheme after the maximum grant available was increased to €25,000. Businesses that have suffered a 25% loss of expected turnover between April 1 and June 30 can apply for the funding if they have less than 250 employees and turnover of less than €25m. Eligible companies must also declare their intention to re-employ staff in receipt of the temporary wage subsidy scheme. To clarify: this is a 2nd grant available to those who claimed the 1st grant in May provided you don’t exceed the €25,000 threshold. Read more

• The Future Growth Loan Scheme (update 30/07/2020):  – offering long term, low costs loans to SMEs or small mid-caps or SMEs involved in agriculture –  has been expanded by Government. Details of the scheme and the application form may be found on the Strategic Banking Corporation website here.
• The Sustaining Enterprise Fund – Eligible applicants are manufacturing and internationally traded service companies with 10 or more full-time people on their payroll on the 29th of February 2020 who have seen a 15% reduction in actual or projected turnover/profit, or a significant increase in costs due to Covid. Available funding will comprise of both repayable and non-repayable supports. Click here for more details.

• Business Continuity Voucher:  A new Business Continuity Voucher is available through Local Enterprise Offices for businesses that employ up to 50 people. The voucher is worth up to €2,500 in third party consultancy costs and can be used by companies and sole traders to develop short-term and long-term strategies to respond to the COVID-19 emergency. Clients of Enterprise Ireland, IDA or Údarás na Gaeltachta should contact their relevant agency, which have other appropriate supports in place. Download an application form and email it to your Local Enterprise Office.

• Commercial Rates Waiver:  A 100% waiver of commercial rates applies for a 6-month period from 27 March 2020 to 27 September 2020 to all ratepayers except a small number of categories. The waiver will be applied as a credit in lieu of rates for the 6-month period covered in 2020. Large multi-nationals are excluded.

• The July Stimulus Package – Job Stimulus 2020  – was announced on Thursday, 23 July. See here for a summary of key measures.
  
• 7 steps to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on your business 21/06/2020
• Covid 19 Business Support available 14/04/2020
• Covid-19 Business Supports Announced this week 23/03/2020
• Bank Supports Available during Covid-19 restrictions 20/03/2020

Online Trading

• Covid-19 Online Retail Scheme: Competitive fund through Enterprise Ireland for Irish-owned retailers to develop their online offering. Awards are 80% of their project costs – maximum grants of €40,000. The call for applications closes Monday, September 28 at 3pm. For all the information click here

• Online Trading Vouchers: The scheme offers matching funding of up to €2,500 to allow businesses to develop websites for online payments or booking systems. The scheme is administered by the Local Enterprise Office Network. Update August 2020: an expansion of the Online Trading Voucher Scheme of €20m was announced in the July Stimulus package. Further details available from Local Enterprise Office here
• Udarás na Gaeltachta’s COVID-19 Online Trading Scheme: The closing date for Gaeltacht businesses is currently 30th September but there are a limited amount of vouchers left so get your applications in soon! You can find all the details here and other supports for Gaeltacht businesses here
• Intertrade Ireland E-Merge Programme – providing £2,500/€2,800 fully funded consultancy support to help businesses develop online sales and eCommerce solutions. Applicants must be indigenous businesses registered in Ireland or Northern Ireland and be active in either manufacturing or tradeable service sectors in the cross border market. Find more details here
• Grow with Google – you can find a host of free programmes to help grow your business here 

• Facebook are giving grants, in a combination of cash and ad credits, to help small businesses in Dublin, Cork and Meath, where Facebook has offices and its Clonee data centre. You can find more details about the scheme here

Exiting Lock Down

• Covid-19: A safe return to work post lock down 03/06/2020
• National Standards Authority of Ireland Workplace Protection Covid-19 03/06/2020
• DBEI Return to work safely protocol 30/05/2020
• Covid-19 Safe return to work templates 29/05/2020

Grants

• Clients of Enterprise Ireland can avail of a #COVID19 Business Financial Planning Grant – providing 100% funding of up to €5,000 to access an approved financial consultant. Find more details here 
• 18/09/2020 Restart Grant Plus:  Has been increased . Grants of between €4,000 up to a maximum of €25,000 are available. To qualify for the scheme, enterprises must have: 250 employees or less; turnover of less than €100,000 per employee; and reduced turnover by 25% as a result of COVID-19.  Those that accessed funding through the previous round of the scheme are eligible to apply for a second top-up payment to a total combined value of the revised maximum grant level. Applications are through your Local Authority. Read more. UPDATE: 18 September: Government announced €30M top up to the Restart Grant Plus fund to be made available immediately to affected businesses in Dublin.
• 14/09/2020 The Micro-Enterprise Assistance Fund will help businesses with fewer than 10 employees, which are ineligible for existing grants, with a grant of up to €1,000 to help them adapt and invest to rebuild their business. About 2,000 businesses nationwide will benefit. Applications from Kildare, Laois and Offaly are already prioritised for funding under all existing Schemes. Read more
  
• 14/08/2020 Restart Grant now available to sole traders not liable for commercial rates. Up to €1,000 available. Read more
• ReStart Grant Update (July 2020): The Restart Grant has been expanded by €300m. Grants will be increased from a maximum of €4,000 to €25,000 and criteria broadened to include bigger businesses with up to 250 employees or a turnover of €25m and to others who did not qualify as they did not pay rates. This includes bed and breakfasts and ‘man with van’ type operations such as carpenters, electricians, and plumbers.
• ReStart grant for small businesses 15/05/2020

Cashflow/Liquidity

A package of measures to boost cash flow for businesses, and the self-employed, including reforms to how trading losses can be carried against the previous year and tax warehousing.

• To provide immediate cash-flow support to previously profitable companies, the early carry-back of trading losses will be allowed, leading to an immediate refund of some or all of corporation tax paid.
• The Government confirmed the previously announced warehousing of tax liabilities. This will allow for businesses affected by Covid-19 to delay payment of their PAYE and VAT debts in part of in full for a set period with no interest or penalties.
• In order to provide support to taxpayers experiencing difficulty with tax liabilities, the interest rate applying to agreed repayments of all tax debt (where agreement has been reached prior to 30 September 2020) will be reduced to 3%.
• There will be a new income tax relief for self-employed individuals who were profitable in 2019 but, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, incur losses in 2020.

Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS)

• Update 09/09/2020 EWSS/Sweepback Scheme:  as some employees were excluded from the TWSS, for example newly hired employees or seasonal employees, eligible employers can back date a claim for EWSS to 1 July 2020 in respect of such eligible employees in certain limited circumstances . EWSS  Sweepback template available for download via the following link. Can be submitted to Revenue via ROS from 15 September up to 14 October 2020. Read more
• Update: Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme starts 01/09/2020 and replaces the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme.  All the information you need available here and we regularly update this page as the latest information becomes available.
• Revenue Published details of the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme on 04/08/2020. Read more
• Update (July 2020) -The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) will be replaced by the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) from 1 September until 31 March 2021. To be used as a payroll subsidy support rather than an income replacement measure. Criteria broadened to include newly hired employees and seasonal workers hired during July and August. To qualify an employer must be operating on no more than 70% of turnover this year compared to last year. The employer will receive a flat-rate subsidy of €203 per employee.

• Covid-19 Employees rehired after May 1st may not be eligible for wage subsidy scheme 01/05/2020
• Wage Subsidy Scheme Update 15/04/2020
• FAQs Wage Subsidy Scheme 30/03/2020
• Temporary Covid-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme Announced 24/03/2020

Training

• 14/09/2020 The Apprenticeship Incentivisation Scheme: For those students who didn’t get a CAO offer or the choice they wanted, remember there are plenty of career pathways open to you. One such pathway becoming more popular of late, is an apprenticeship. Apprenticeships have been highlighted for employers recently too as Government announced a grant of €3,000 per apprentice over two years for employers who register before the end of this year. Read More

Advocacy and Media

• SME Recovery Ireland. National Recovery Plan and Budget 2021 Submission. Read more.
• The National Small Business Recovery Plan. A plan to recover the small business sector and enure that employment is sustained 06/07/2020
• Midlands 103 – Taking care of Business – Jamie O’Hanlon in conversation with Eugene Berry about the SME Recovery plan to assist the small business sector. Listen here  09/06/2020