See below links for the latest information from Revenue.
FAQs from Revenue
https://www.revenue.ie/en/employing-people/documents/pmod-topics/guidance-on-operation-of-twss.pdf
COVID-19 Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme – Employer Eligibility and Supporting Proofs
https://www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/communications/documents/guidance-on-employer-eligibility-and-supporting-proofs.pdf
Revenue Excel Wage Subsidy Calculator
https://www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/communications/documents/twss-sample-subsidy-calculator.xlsx
See the helpfile in Payroll 2020 for how to setup and make payments or view our COVID 19 page including video guides https://www.bigredbook.com/covid-19-update/
All guidance issued here by Big Red Book is subject to Employers and Employees qualifying for the scheme. It is also subject to a certain amount of assumption in the questions asked.
Participant’s Questions:
Q. Have you been advised by revenue of an extension after the initial 12 week programme?
A. No
Q. Do I have to download CSV, will this apply with the DCYA scheme?
A. The DCYA scheme is reliant on using the TWSS. In order to continue using the TWSS you must download the CSV.
Q. If illegible employees were processed on April payroll on monthly basis, we would need to start it in May not 16th April, correct?
A. If they have already been paid for April, then you can start paying them a subsidy in May, assuming they have become eligible
Q. Will the download of CSV file be an automatic prompt?
A. No, this will be covered in the Webinar, but you must download the CSV from ROS
Q. I am running an April payroll now. Employees normally have a net in excess of €960. Can I avail of the subsidy now for them even though the change only kicks in on May 4th? Thank you
A. For those whose ARNWP is above €960 and they are now being paid under €960 as well as more than 20% less than ARNWP, they can receive a subsidy for pay runs after April 16th
Q. Would you have to run all your payroll before the 4th next week before inputting this csv file?
A. No, payruns before May 4th will be process under the Transitional Phase rules, payruns from May 4th onwards will process under Operational Phase rules, once the CSV is imported
Q. Will CSV file be emailed to client or agent?
A. No, you will have to download it from ROS
Q. If you are not topping up the subsidy, will the payroll software continue to automatically add the 0.01 when you submit to revenue will this have to be added manually now?
A. This will now have to be manually added
Q. I have the monthly payroll to run under the TWSS for employee who had over 960 weekly, his march payroll gross pay was reduced, according to guide the subsidy he can claim is 350 per week. how do i calculate the subsidy for the pay day today.? is it for the full month or pro rata calculation?
A. If the payrun date is after April 16th, then the full month subsidy is available to the employee
Q. If employees are on covid payment but we are reopening next week do I need to add them back onto payroll before the 4th of May?
A. They would need to be added back today or tomorrow, as the CSV files will be generated for active employees over the weekend and adding them after this time will not add them to the CSV currently
Q. After importing the Revenue CSV file do I still need to use the RPN Lookup tab before entering timesheets?
A. RPN Lookup is separate to the ROS CSV file and must always be done before processing payroll.
Q. Entering 0.01 gross pay from the 4th would you still use the wage subsidy setting?
A. Yes – the 1c is required to trigger the calculation of the Wage Subsidy
Q. We pay a week in hand, therefore my next payrun date will Sunday the 3rd May, covering the week from Monday to Sunday 27/04/2020 – 03/05/2020, do I use the “olds scheme” for that week? And use the “new” scheme for the week after?
A. Yes
Q. Can I add an employee that was employed from 1 March to participate in the operational phase?
A. Currently employees not paid in Jan/Feb are not included in the scheme
Q. Are the revenue going to calculate the previous overpayments of the subsidy and adjust the future refund or are they expecting the employer to do this?
A. The reconciliation of payments has not been finalised as yet
Q. For payroll run monthly at the end on the month does June’s payroll need to be run before the current 12 week period runs out as 12 weeks from 26th March is 18th June?
A. There is no information as yet regarding the scheme after 18th June
Q. If I left employee on payroll but didn’t use the subsidy scheme from them as they got more from revenue and are thinking of rehire next week how do I leave revenue know?
A. As long as the are still a current employee on ROS they will be included in the CSV. You should check in case employee ceased themselves via myAccount. If you or the employee have not submitted a ceased date for the employee and they qualify for the scheme, the employee should notify DEASP to take the off the PUP. You can then pay them once they are on the CSV
Q. So should I delay going to ROS and importing the csv file until I am going to use the new scheme, which under your direction will be Sunday 10/5/2020 (which will cover 4/5/2020 – 10/5/2020?
A. The file will be available to download from ROS anytime from 4th May, but you may wish to download to see which employees are eligible
Q. Can I check by looking at rpns if they have notified that they have ceased employment?
A. Yes – if it has a ceased date on RPN they are ceased
Q. When creating a new employment id for an existing employee that we have ceased do we put the start date as 01/05/20 or Tuesday the 5th may. thanks
A. It should be before 4th May
Q. Do you need to let her go so she can claim social welfare?
A. No but if she has another employment you may have tax credits assigned to your employment
Q. Should all employees be advised to go on a week one basis?
A. An employee can contact Revenue to request a Week One basic, but this is really a decision for each employee. You could advise them that it may mean less adjustments in the future, but it depends on their individual circumstances
Questions answered live during the webinar:
Q. do employers have to pay bank holiday pay for Easter and May and do employees loose some of their days hols
A. There is no change to how holidays or bank holidays are paid
Q. If the employee’s hours plus subsidy exceed the weekly average wage does the software taper the subsidy down to the weekly average or what happens?
A. Yes tapering will be applied for the Operational Phase
Q. Does the download of the CSV file need to be done before each and every payroll, or just once?
A. Just once, but available to download again
Q. Will this scheme be compatible with the DCYA TWSCS and how do we input the DCYA payment top-up to 350 is in as an additional pay?
A. The top-up is just entered as gross taxable pay.
Q. In view of the fact that there is a discrepancy where people are paid monthly for January and February, and the Revenue calculation (total net / 9 weeks), would it be better to pay all employees weekly?
A. Yes, Revenue do recommend paying weekly where possible.
Q. Does the employer have to pay back the subsidy at a later date?
A. No, but any excess refunded by Revenue over the eligible subsidy for an employee will need to be repaid.
Q. As the Revenue have refunded the tax and USC refunds that have been paid to employees is this due back to Revenue as the monthly tax liabilities have been reduced by the refunds when you run the payroll summary?
A. Revenue are taking this into account in the summary of liability
Q. Will software updates allow for pension deductions be made from top-up payments? I contacted revenue and they have advised that pension deductions are allowable from topup but i wasn’t able to process the deductions on the payroll software.
A. This is currently under review
Q. I have an employee who is over 70 who I have on the wage subsidy scheme as I intend to employ him when this is over, Is he eligible?
A. He could be eligible, but this should really be checked with Revenue
Q. Do the requirements to have made a payment in Jan & Feb still apply? Just with regard the comment of registering by 1st May. I have staff only joined in March and paid in March will they be included in this next phase?
A. Yes. Those only paid from March will not be eligible
Q. Can we get subsidy for employee where employee commenced work March 16th?
A. Those only paid from March will not be eligible
Q. How do I add an employee back on system through ros?
A. Add them into Payroll and use the notify new option in RPN Lookup
Q. If construction workers go bk to work next wk do we go bk to normal pay?
A. We cannot answer if you would continue to qualify for the scheme. You would need to talk with Revenue or your accountant.
Q. Does the CSV file override the rpns or should we still download the rpn every week?
A. No, it does not overwrite. RPN lookup should still be done regularly
Q. As revenue will now be advising the rates and amount to be paid, as opposed the payroll software, when we import the csv file from revenue, will the payroll software calculate the rate to be paid from that automatically when you select Temporary wage scheme?
A. Subsidy will be calculated by the software based on Additional Pay and the limits for the employee
Q. Can I see what subsidy we would get for an employee if we were going to take them back i.e. if they would get a greater amount from subsidy vs PUP of €350 for May 2020 payroll?
A. Check the Revenue Excel calculator, downloadable from here
Q. An employee is finishing tomorrow but we weren’t aware before submitting his final payslip last week, so his finish date was not included. How do I cease him for Revenue?
A. Resubmit with the leaving date, talk to support if you need assistance.
Q. On what date in June does the 12 weeks subsidy end, and how will the partial period be applied to a June monthly payroll?
A. No decision has been made as yet
Q. Do you know if Revenue have plans to issue statements on their calculation for the refunds due to them for overpayments to us?
A. Yes, they will show in ROS but the overall reconciliation has not been finalised
Q. If employees were paid for January and February, temporarily laid off for March and April but not ceased on the payroll, and will resume employment for May, do we need to do anything on the payroll in order to ensure they qualify for the Subsidy?
A. You could check their latest RPN to see if there is a cease date reported. If there is then you would need add a new employee record and notify them as a new employee
Q. If an employee who has a calculated average of €340 but only works 1 day @ €80. How is this input into the system?
A. You can pay them for the 1 day as normal and any subsidy will be added
Q. In timesheets, we now select (1) subsidy payment and (2)additional payment
A. No, just make an additional payment for at least €0.01 from May 4th and the software will add any eligible subsidy
Q. I had fulltime student employed for 2 weeks in February on payroll. She isnt currently working for us but is not ceased. I assume that I don’t have to be paying the subsidy to her unless she’s working for us?
A. No, but you should consider ceasing her if you won’t be paying her to free up any credits for other employments
Q. The additional pay is NET pay only, is that correct? So, when we add additional pay if we use the recalculate button to get down to a definite additional pay that has been approved?
A. The Additional Pay is put through as a gross amount.
Q. I have some staff active on scheme and some not will that be straightforward?
A. Yes, you mark each employee as active if you wish to pay them under the scheme. Otherwise they are paid as normal
Q. If an employee earns less than the average amount, is the lesser amount entered into additional payment and nothing entered to subsidy payment?
A. If you enter what they are being paid now as gross pay, then in the operational phase any eligible subsidy will be added to their payment.
