Finance Act 2021

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Amendment of Part 7 of Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020

70. (1) The Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020 is amended—

(a) in section 28A, in subsection (6), by the substitution of “paragraphs (aa) to (c)” for “paragraphs (a) to (c)” in each place where it occurs, and

(b) in section 28B—

(i) in subsection (1), by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “qualifying period”:

“ ‘qualifying period’ means the period commencing on 1 July 2020 and expiring on 30 April 2022;”,

(ii) in subsection (3)—

(I) in paragraph (a), by the insertion of “, on or before 31 December 2021,” after “applied”, and

(II) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (a):

“(aa) the employer has, on or before 31 December 2021, been paid a wage subsidy payment in accordance with subsection (7)(a) to which the employer was entitled in accordance with this section,”,

(iii) in subsection (5)(a), by the substitution of “, January 2022, February 2022, March 2022 and April 2022” for “and the last such month”,

(iv) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (8):

“(8) Subject to subsections (9), (21)(aa) and (21)(c), the wage subsidy payment payable by the Revenue Commissioners to an employer in relation to a qualifying employee shall be—

(a) in the case where the date of the payment of the emoluments by the employer to the qualifying employee is in the period beginning on 1 July 2020 and ending on 19 October 2020 or the period beginning on 1 February 2022 and ending on 28 February 2022, the sum of—

(i) €151.50 per contribution week, where the employer pays the qualifying employee gross pay of at least €151. 50 per week but not more than €202. 99 per week, and

(ii) €203 per contribution week, where the employer pays the qualifying employee gross pay of at least €203 per week but not more than €1,462 per week,

(b) in the case where the date of the payment of the emoluments by the employer to the qualifying employee is in the period beginning on 20 October 2020 and ending on 31 January 2022, the sum of—

(i) €203 per contribution week, where the employer pays the qualifying employee gross pay of at least €151. 50 per week but not more than €202. 99 per week,

(ii) €250 per contribution week, where the employer pays the qualifying employee gross pay of at least €203 per week but not more than €299.99 per week,

(iii) €300 per contribution week, where the employer pays the qualifying employee gross pay of at least €300 per week but not more than €399.99 per week, and

(iv) €350 per contribution week, where the employer pays the qualifying employee gross pay of at least €400 per week but not more than €1,462 per week,

and

(c) in the case where the date of the payment of the emoluments by the employer to the qualifying employee is in the period beginning on 1 March 2022 and ending on 30 April 2022, the sum of €100 per contribution week, where the employer pays the qualifying employee gross pay of at least €151.50 per week but not more than €1,462 per week.”,

(v) in subsection (21)—

(I) by the deletion of paragraph (a), and

(II) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (aa):

“(aa) make an order that any day referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) or (c) of subsection (8) as the day on which a period there referred to shall begin on, or end on, shall be such other day (but not later than 30 April 2022) as the Minister considers appropriate and specifies in the order,”,

and

(vi) in subsection (22), by the substitution of “paragraph (aa), (b) or (c) of subsection (21)” for “paragraph (a), (aa), (b) or (c) of subsection (21)”.

(2) Subsection (1)(b)(iv) shall be deemed to have come into operation on 1 October 2021.