Finance (Covid-19 and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022
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Amendment of section 28B of Act of 2020 | ||
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2. (1) Section 28B of the Act of 2020 is amended— | ||
(a) 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— | ||
(a) in respect of an employer to which subsection (2D) applies, on 31 May 2022, and | ||
(b) in respect of any other employer to which this section applies, on 30 April 2022;”, | ||
(b) in subsection (2B), by the insertion of “in respect of the employer” after “expires”, | ||
(c) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (2B): | ||
“(2C) Subject to subsections (4) and (5), this section shall apply to an employer for the period from 1 January 2022 to the date on which the qualifying period expires in respect of the employer where— | ||
(a) in accordance with guidelines published by the Revenue Commissioners under subsection (20)(a), the employer demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that, by reason of Covid-19 and the disruption that is being caused thereby to commerce, there will occur in the period from 1 December 2021 to 31 January 2022— | ||
(i) in the case where the commencement of the operation of the employer’s business occurred before 1 May 2019, at least a 30 per cent reduction, or such other percentage reduction as the Minister may specify in an order made by him or her under subsection (21)(b), in either the turnover of the employer’s business or in the customer orders being received by the employer by reference to the period from 1 December 2019 to 31 January 2020, and | ||
(ii) in the case where the commencement of the operation of the employer’s business occurred on or after 1 May 2019, at least a 30 per cent reduction, or such other percentage reduction as the Minister may specify in an order made by him or her under subsection (21)(b), in either the average monthly turnover of the employer’s business or in the average monthly customer orders being received by the employer by reference to the average monthly turnover of the employer’s business or the average monthly customer orders being received by the employer— | ||
(I) in the period from 1 August 2021 to 30 November 2021 (in this subparagraph referred to as ‘the reference period’), or | ||
(II) in the case where the business of the employer has not operated for the whole of the reference period, in the part of the reference period in which the business has operated, | ||
and | ||
(b) the employer satisfies the conditions specified in subsection (3). | ||
(2D) (a) This subsection shall apply to an employer where— | ||
(i) public health restrictions applied to the business of the employer in the relevant period, and | ||
(ii) the conduct of that business was directly impacted by reason of the terms in which those public health restrictions stood in the relevant period being different from how they stood immediately before that period by virtue of the relevant amendments. | ||
(b) In this subsection— | ||
‘public health restrictions’ means restrictions for the purpose of preventing, or reducing the risk of, the transmission of Covid-19 provided for in the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 2) Regulations 2021 ( S.I. No. 217 of 2021 ); | ||
‘relevant amendments’ means Regulations 5 to 8 of the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 2) (Amendment) (No. 22) Regulations 2021 ( S.I. No. 736 of 2021 ); | ||
‘relevant period’ means the period from 20 December 2021 to 22 January 2022.”, | ||
(d) in subsection (3), by the substitution of “subsection (2)(b), (2A)(b), (2B)(b) or (2C)(b) ” for “subsection (2)(b), (2A)(b) or (2B)(b) ”, | ||
(e) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (5): | ||
“(5A) Where, by virtue of subsection (2C), an employer is an employer to which this section applies— | ||
(a) the employer shall, if it has not already done so before the date of the passing of the Finance (Covid-19 and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022, as soon as practicable review its business circumstances as they were on 31 January 2022, and | ||
(b) if, based on the result of that review or of such a review carried out before the date of the passing of the Finance (Covid-19 and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022, it is manifest to the employer that the outcome referred to in subparagraph (i) or (ii), as the case may be, of subsection (2C)(a) that had previously been envisaged would occur did not, in fact, occur, | ||
then— | ||
(i) the employer shall, if it has not already done so before the date of the passing of the Finance (Covid-19 and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022, as soon as practicable log on to ROS and declare that, as on and from 1 February 2022, the employer ceased to be an employer to which this section applies, and | ||
(ii) on and from 1 February 2022, the employer shall have ceased to be an employer to which this section applies and shall not represent that its status is otherwise than as referred to in this subparagraph nor cause the Revenue Commissioners to believe it to be so otherwise.”, | ||
(f) 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— | ||
(i) the employer is not an employer to which subsection (2D) applies and 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, or | ||
(ii) the employer is an employer to which subsection (2D) applies and 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 March 2022 and ending on 31 March 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— | ||
(i) the employer is not an employer to which subsection (2D) applies and 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, or | ||
(ii) the employer is an employer to which subsection (2D) applies and 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 28 February 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— | ||
(i) the employer is not an employer to which subsection (2D) applies and 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, or | ||
(ii) the employer is an employer to which subsection (2D) applies and the date of the payment of the emoluments by the employer to the qualifying employee is in the period beginning on 1 April 2022 and ending on 31 May 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.”, | ||
(g) in subsection (10)— | ||
(i) by the substitution of “in any of the income tax months July 2020 to June 2022” for “for an income tax month”, and | ||
(ii) in paragraph (b), by the substitution of “in any of the income tax months December 2020 to June 2022” for “subsequent to the income tax month December 2020”, | ||
(h) in subsection (17), by the substitution of “(2), (2A), (2B) or (2C)” for “(2), (2A) or (2B)” in both places where it occurs, | ||
(i) in subsection (20)(a), by the substitution of “(2), (2A), (2B) or (2C)” for “(2), (2A) or (2B)”, and | ||
(j) in subsection (21)— | ||
(i) in paragraph (aa), by the substitution of “31 May 2022” for “30 April 2022”, and | ||
(ii) in paragraph (b), by the insertion of “or subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of subsection (2C)(a) ”, after “clauses (I) to (III) of subsection (2)(a)(i), (2A)(a)(i) or (2B)(a)(i) ”. | ||
(2) Subsection (1), other than paragraph (e), shall be deemed to have come into operation on 1 January 2022. |