The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) ran from March 26, 2020 to October 31, 2020 when it was replaced by the Employee Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS).
All employers who availed of TWSS have received a Statement of Account in their ROS inbox on Monday 22nd March 2021.
Overpayment to Revenue may have arisen from the application of a blanket payment per eligible employee for the first weeks of the scheme that was later tailored towards actual employee pay.
For the first five weeks, employers were paid the maximum subsidy rate of €410 per eligible employee. The bulk of the subsidy due back stems from those first five weeks of the scheme.
Employers will have until the end of June 2021 to review the detailed information and reconciliation.
Once employers have accepted the reconciliation calculation, they will either be paid any additional amount due to them by Revenue or be required to repay any amount that they owe to Revenue.
If the information is not provided, then the total TWSS payment received by them over the course of the scheme, as reflected in the reconciliation balance, is fully repayable to Revenue.
Employers liable for an overpayment and who are eligible to avail of the Debt Warehousing Scheme can warehouse the TWSS reconciliation balance.
Employers not availing of the Debt Warehousing Scheme can pay their outstanding reconciliation balance on ROS or alternatively can apply for a Phased Payment Arrangement and pay the amount owed over an extended timeline.
Revenue have said they will not pursue companies that owe a balance of under €500.
According to Revenue 56% of employers who availed of the TWSS were overpaid under the scheme and owe a total of €224 million.
20,000 employers owe between €500 and €3,500, another 10,000 owe between €3,500 and €20,000 and 1,600 owe in excess of €20,000.