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Restart Grant for Small Businesses

PSC Accountants & AdvisorsCovid Restart Grant for Small Businesses

Restart Grant for Small Businesses

 

COVID-19
Restart Grant for Small Businesses Applications opened 22nd May 2020
The Government has announced the implementation of a new €250m Restart Grant, which will give direct grant aid to small businesses to help them with the costs associated with re-opening and re-employing workers following COVID-19 closures. The grant is a contribution towards the cost of re-opening or keeping a business operational and re-connecting with employees and customers.
This direct grant support is part of the wider €12bn package of supports for firms of all sizes, which includes grants, low-cost loans, write-off of commercial rates and deferred tax liabilities, all of which will help to improve cashflow amongst Small and Medium Enterprises.

Conditions for Eligibility
To avail of the Restart Grant, applicants must be a commercial business and be in the Local Authorities Commercial Rates Payment System and:

  1. Have an annual turnover of less than €5m and employ between 1 to 50 people
  2. Have suffered a projected 25%+ loss in turnover to end June 2020
  3. Commit to remain open or to reopen if it was closed
  4. Declare the intention to retain employees that are on The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and re-employ staff on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment as business recovers.

The grant will be equivalent to the rates bill of the business in 2019, or a minimum payment of €2,000, whichever is the higher, and will be subject to a maximum payment of €10,000.
If a company is currently in a rateable premise but was not rate-assessed in 2019 it is still eligible to apply. The local authority can pay the grant based on an estimate of what the rates demand for 2019 would have been.

Businesses not eligible
The following businesses are not eligible for the Restart Grant:

  1. Businesses that do not operate from commercially rateable premises, i.e. tradesmen, service providers etc
  2. Multiple chain stores, i.e. a business that is a non-financially independent branch of a group of chain stores which is owned and managed by a single entity
  3. Non-commercial organisations such as community and sporting premises including charity shops and community/sporting premises with a bar
  4. Premises that were vacant prior to the COVID-19 emergency

 

How to Apply 

Applications for the Restart Grant can be made online to your local authority from Friday 22nd May. The link below will bring you directly to the Restart Grant application form and FAQ’s.
https://www.kerrycoco.ie/restart-grant/
https://www.limerick.ie/form/business-restart-application
Please note that businesses that have remained open during COVID-19 and businesses re-opening under Phase 1 and 2 of the Government’s Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business are encouraged to apply for the grant now. These applications will be prioritised for payment by the Local Authorities.
It is hoped the application process will be completed within one week, but this will depend on the volume of applications.
Businesses not re-opening until Phase 3 or later are being requested to wait until a few weeks before their business is due to re-open to submit their application.
Local Enterprise
Please also see link to a presentation that was recorded on the 20th May 2020 which addresses the issues retailers may have opening, discusses supports available and looks at the economic outlook.
Kerry County Council Covid 19 Retail Excellence Presentation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4M37042YHE&feature=youtu.be

Should anyone have any further queries please contact our office.

Our message is simple, we are here to help.
On behalf of the entire team here in PSC, we wish you and yours good health and Stay Safe.