Changes to the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS)
There have been significant changes to the CRSS. These changes are:
- It has been extended to 31 December 2021.
- For businesses reopening on or after 2 June 2021, there is now a provision for a “triple restart week”.
Triple Restart Week
Example
A Hotel reopens on 2 June 2021 and can claim a “triple restart week”. If the Hotel was claiming €600 of CRSS p/w up to now, that Hotel can now claim €3,600 for the triple restart week. The terminology can be confusing; in this regard, only a single claim is made for all of these three weeks.
As 2 June falls mid-week, the triple restart week claim is made for the following week, ie, the week beginning 7 June 2021.
The maximum CRSS that can be claimed p/w has been increased to €10,000, for the purposes of the triple restart week. In other words, a maximum of €30,000 can be claimed. The normal maximum claim of €5,000 p/w still applies for other purposes.
The business will still be eligible for CRSS in the restart week, even where the turnover of the business in that week is higher than 25% of the turnover of the business in 2019.
Once the triple restart week is claimed, no further CRSS payments will be made.
Each business will have to assess whether they are entitled to claim the CRSS going forward and whether to defer claiming the triple restart week. The test is whether there is still a “significant restriction on access to the business premises”. In this regard, any outdoor dining areas would be regarded as part of the “business premises”.
Since Hotels have reopened on 2 June to residents, it is probable that Hotels will no longer have a “significant restriction on access”. It is likely that businesses such as restaurants and cafés will still have this restriction.
Revenue guidance notes issued subsequent to the initial publication of this circular on June 4 2021 indicates that the 25% turnover limit is a reasonable indication as to whether the business is still “significantly restricted”. In other words:
- If a business’ turnover for the week is greater than 25% of the 2019 base, this indicates that the business should claim the triple restart week.
- If a business’ turnover for the week is still lower than 25% of the 2019 base, this indicates that the business can continue to claim the normal CRSS amount; and should defer claiming the triple restart week until this 25% turnover limit is reached.
The normal 8 weeks deadline applies for all CRSS claims.