Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) – Registration now open!
The CRSS is a recently introduced support for eligible businesses significantly impacted by restrictions introduced by the government under public health regulations to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The key features of the scheme are:
- CRSS is designed to assist those businesses whose trade has been significantly impacted or temporarily closed as a result of the restrictions as set out in the government’s ‘Living with COVID-19’ Plan
- The scheme will generally operate when Level 3 or higher is in place and will cease when restrictions are lifted
- The scheme will apply to businesses where government restrictions prohibit or reduce access by customers to their business premises. Where a qualifying person carries on more than one eligible business activity from separate business premises, a claim in respect of each activity can be made.
- To qualify under the scheme, a business must be able to demonstrate that, because of the COVID-19 restrictions, the turnover of the business in the period for which the restrictions are in operation, and for which a claim is made, will be no more than 25% of an amount equal to the average weekly turnover of the business in 2019 (or average weekly turnover in 2020 in the case of a new business) multiplied by the number of weeks in the period for which a claim is made
- A qualifying person will be able to make a claim to Revenue under the CRSS for a cash payment to be known as an “Advance Credit for Trading Expenses”. This payment will be equal to 10% of their average weekly turnover in 2019 up to €20,000 and 5% thereafter, subject to a maximum weekly payment of €5,000, for each week that their business is affected by the COVID-19 restrictions.
| Weekly turnover | Rate | Amount |
| First €20,000 | 10% | €2,000 |
| Next €60,000 | 5% | €3,000 |
| Maximum payment | €5,000 | |
The scheme will operate from 13 October 2020 to 31 March 2021 and there is provision for the Minister for Finance to vary aspects of the scheme.
To register for CRSS, the eligible business must:
- make a declaration that it meets the eligibility criteria for the scheme
- have tax clearance
- and
- provide certain information in relation to the business activity, the business premises and previous turnover details.
The relevant turnover details provided as part of the registration process must be consistent with the information included in the relevant tax returns of the business and will be validated against the information already held on Revenue systems.
Revenue has published an overview of the scheme with some detailed examples, together with guidance on the operation of the scheme which can be found here;
Contact the team at PKF today if you have any queries
