Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS): Employer Compliance Check
Revenue have recently commenced a review on compliance with the TWSS and are contacting employers who have claimed TWSS payments.
What this means for you?
Revenue are asking for certain documentary evidence to establish that:
- The Scheme eligibility criteria is met.
- The correct amount of subsidy is being claimed and paid to employees.
- The subsidy amount is being correctly identified in employee payslips.
- The scheme is operating correctly.
In general, Revenue will be asking for:
- An outline of the business and its principal activities
- Who runs the payroll?
- Summary of the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions on turnover of the business.
- Confirmation that payslips were issued to all employees for the relevant periods.
- Confirmation that the payslips displayed the scheme subsidy amount correctly, and
- Copies of payslips for certain employees and pay periods.
If you receive such a letter, please note that there are only five days to respond to the Revenue’s request. It is therefore critical to actively engage with Revenue within this deadline. Depending on the responses received, Revenue may seek more detailed information.
Revenue may cease payments to employers who do not co-operate with these compliance checks, who do not reply within the five days, or who are not complying with conditions of the scheme.
As part of these compliance checks, Revenue may also check that the PAYE Modernisation system is being operated correctly by the employer and if there are any outstanding tax returns.
Where the employer has outstanding returns, they will be unable to avail of the favourable Debt Warehousing arrangements in respect of PAYE and VAT liabilities.
Next steps
Revenue will contact you through ROS (MyEnquiries). Please therefore keep ROS monitored.
On receipt of your letter from Revenue, and if you need any assistance, you should contact your usual PSC contact as soon as possible.