As Ireland is trying to cope with the outbreak of Covid-19, businesses are concerned about the prolonged effects of social distancing protocols and travel restrictions.
In the recent publications, on 10 March and 13 March 2020, Revenue.ie tried to address some of the concerns of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that may experience tax payment problems and trading difficulties.
Tax Payment Problems
Revenue.ie has a good record of successfully guiding viable companies through tax payment difficulties. Revenue assured that they will engage with businesses struggling with tax debt in order to facilitate a payment program suitable both for the business as well as Revenue.
The following advice has been issued to business owners struggling with tax payments:
- Continue to send in tax returns on time
- Engage with Revenue as early as possible in case of difficulties
Affected businesses can apply for a Phased Payment Agreement through Revenue’s Online Phased Payment Facility available via Revenue website.
Businesses with trading difficulties
In order to ease the negative impact of Covid-19, Revenue introduced the following advice for businesses with trading difficulties:
- Tax returns: Continue to send in tax returns on time.
- Late payments: Application of interest on late payments for January/February VAT as well as February/March PAYE (Employers) liabilities has been suspended.
- Debt Enforcement: Debt enforcement has been suspended until further notice.
- Tax Clearance: Current tax clearance will remain in place for all businesses for the coming months.
Other important announcements:
- RCT (Relevant Contract Tax) review scheduled to take place in March 2020 has been suspended.
- Critical pharmaceutical products will be given ‘green routing’ to minimise interruptions.
While these measures do not provide direct support for businesses in terms of direct tax reliefs, they are aimed at removing some of the tax burden worries from businesses. However, as the Covid-19 crisis unfolds, we may see further support being introduced by the government. Check our website regularly for further updates.