The details of the COVID-19 Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) are set out in the Finance Bill 2020. CRSS was introduced to support businesses significantly affected by restrictions introduced to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
The support will be available to eligible businesses who carry on a business activity that is impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. The business must have been required to prohibit or considerably restrict customers from accessing their business premises. Generally, this refers to COVID-19 restrictions at Level 3, 4 or 5 as explained in the Government’s Plan for Living with COVID-19. Certain businesses may qualify for the support where lower levels of restrictions are in operation. The specific restrictions applying to businesses are provided for in regulations made by the Department of Health.
Eligible businesses can make a claim to Revenue for a payment known as an Advance Credit for Trading Expenses (ACTE). An ACTE is payable for each week a business is affected by the restrictions.
Update
Businesses who remain closed or significantly restricted under the public health restrictions may make a claim for additional CRSS support from 5th July for two weeks. The Scheme will be amended to allow for a double week payment from the week commencing 5th July for a period of two weeks subject to the statutory cap of €5,000 per week.
All businesses benefiting from this additional support will still qualify for the enhanced restart payment under CRSS once they can reopen.
Revenue has published an overview of the scheme with detailed guidance and examples on www.revenue.ie
How to make a claim
A two-step process is necessary to make a claim under COVID Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS). The eligible business must both:
complete a claim in respect of a claim period or claim periods.
How to register
To register for CRSS on ROS, your eligible business must:
make a declaration that it meets the eligibility criteria for the scheme
have tax clearance
provide certain information in relation to the business activity, the business premises and previous turnover details.
Claim period
A claim period is a period during which a business is subject toGovernment restrictions.The restrictions mean that the business must prohibit or restrict members of the public from accessing their business premises. A claim period can be up to a maximum of 3 weeks.
A business premises means a building or other similar fixed physical structure from which a business activity is ordinarily carried on. A business could have more than one claim period for the duration of the scheme. Different levels of restrictions may apply to different types of businesses across different regions.
A business can make a claim as early as the first day of a claim period. The claim will be for the number of full weeks that the COVID-19 restrictions are expected to apply to that business premises. A business will be expected to re-assess their eligibility before making a claim for a new claim period.
The facility to register and to make a claim is available on ROS. Eligible businesses must ensure that they are fully registered to allow them make claim. Businesses are encouraged to register and to make a claim as early as possible. Businesses who have been subject to COVID-19 restrictions since 13 October 2020 will be entitled to make a claim. A claim must be made no later than eight weeks from the date on which the claim period commences.
Restart week
A business, in certain circumstances, will be eligible to claim an additional week of support under the scheme. This will be known as the “Restart Week” and will apply to businesses recommencing after a period of restrictions. The purpose of the additional week of support is to assist businesses with the costs of reopening.
Compliance checks
The turnover details provided for registration must be consistent with the information included in the books and records of your business. This will be validated against the information already held on Revenue systems including relevant tax returns.
How to complete a claim
To make a claim for CRSS on ROS, your eligible business must:
complete a claim in respect of a claim period or claim periods.
make a declaration that the claim is correct and complete.
Qualifying criteria for eligible businesses
Businesses must ensure they have tax clearance from Revenue in order to be eligible for the CRSS. You can check your tax clearance status through Revenue Online Service (ROS). If you do not currently have tax clearance, you can make an application using the eTax clearance service.
The Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) is available to businesses that carry on a trade or trading activities from a business premises. This includes:
companies
sole-traders or self-employed individuals
partnerships
What is an eligible business?
To be eligible the:
profits of the trade or trading activities of the business must be chargeable to tax under Case I of Schedule D
business premises must be located wholly within a geographical region for which COVID-19 restrictions are in operation
business must have tax clearance from Revenue.
Qualifying criteria
If you have an eligible business, to qualify for the CRSS you must be able to demonstrate that:
Your business operates from a business premises wholly located in a region subject to Government restrictions in the claim period
because of the Government restrictions, your business must prohibit or significantly restrict members of the public from your business premises
the turnover of your business during the period of restrictions (the claim period) will be no more than 25% of the:
-average weekly turnover of the business in 2019.
-average weekly turnover in 2020 in the case of a new business.
your business has complied with obligations in relation to registering and accounting for Value Added Tax (VAT)
your business intends to resume trade after the Government restrictions are lifted.
Revenue CRSS Webinar
Revenue hosted a Webinar about CRSS that provided information and answered questions from various business and trade bodies about the scheme. The webinar is available to view now by clicking on this linkCRSS Webinar.
