Revenue confirm eligible businesses can make a claim under CRSS from 17 November 2020

Today (16/11/2020), Revenue confirmed that eligible businesses will be able to make a claim for payment under the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) from tomorrow, Tuesday 17 November 2020.

Eligibility

A qualifying person who carries on a business activity from a premises located in a region that is subject to Covid-19 related restrictions can make a claim for payment under the CRSS if:

• the business is required to prohibit or considerably restrict customers from accessing its premises under the Covid restrictions,
• the weekly turnover from the relevant business activity in the claim period will be no more than 25% of the average weekly turnover in 2019 (or in the case of a business activity which commenced on or after 26 December 2019, the average weekly turnover of the business in 2020), 
• the eligible business has tax clearance for the relevant claim period and intends to resume trading after the Covid restrictions are lifted.

While not required to be submitted with a claim, supporting documentation to demonstrate eligibility should be retained as Revenue may request such information to substantiate CRSS entitlement at a later date.

Making a claim

A claim portal for the CRSS will be available via the eRepayments system on ROS from tomorrow. It will only be possible to make a claim if the eligible business has an ‘active’ CRSS registration. Eligible businesses who have not yet registered for the scheme can do so via the e-Registration facility in ROS before submitting a claim. 

Under the CRSS, a qualifying person who meets the eligibility criteria of the scheme can make a payment claim to Revenue for each week that it is affected by Covid restrictions. The weekly payment will be calculated by reference to the average weekly turnover for 2019 (or 2020 in the case of a business which commenced trading on or after 26 December 2019) in respect of the relevant business activity as follows:  

• 10% of average weekly turnover up to €20,000,
• 5% of average weekly turnover in excess of €20,000 
• and
• subject to a maximum of €5,000 per week.

From tomorrow, eligible businesses will be able to make a claim for the current Covid-19 restrictive period up to 1 December 2020. The date from which a claim can be made will be determined by the level of restrictions in place in the specific geographical location(s) during October. Therefore, the maximum claim period for the current restrictive period runs from 13 October, the date the scheme was announced, to 1 December. One payment will be made in respect of the current restrictive period, generally within 3 days of the submission of a qualifying claim.

This means, for example, that if an eligible business was affected by Level 3 restrictions announced by the Government in early October 2020, it can make a claim for a payment for an 8-week period from 13 October to 1 December. If the business was due a weekly payment of €2,500 based on average weekly turnover for 2019, it will receive a payment of €20,000 (i.e. €2,500 x 8) generally within 3 days of submitting the claim.

For any future restricted periods, a business will be required to reassess its eligibility for the scheme. Once eligibility is satisfied, the business can make a claim for the expected restrictive period, in blocks of up to 3 weeks.

There are currently over 9,500 businesses with an active CRSS registration. Detailed guidance on the CRSS, including how to register for, and make a claim under, the scheme can be found here.

{Ends 16/11/2020}