Employer Notice Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) Reconciliation Process Employers are required to report Subsidy Paid to Revenue 21 September 2020

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) which operated from 26 March 2020 to 31 August 2020,
enabled employees, whose employers were negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, to receive
significant supports directly from their employer through the payroll system. To date over €2.85bn was paid in
subsidies to employers in respect of 663,600 employees.
The TWSS operated in two phases; the transitional phase (26 March to 3 May) and the operational phase (4
May to 31 August). During the transitional phase the employer was expected to calculate the Average Revenue
Net Weekly Pay (ARNWP) and pay the correct subsidy to the employee via payroll. During this period, Revenue
refunded employers the maximum subsidy amount of €410 per qualifying payslip, per qualifying employee,
per week, or a multiple of this amount for other pay frequencies. From 4 May 2020 when the Scheme entered
the operational phase, Revenue provided employers with the relevant employee information to ensure the
correct subsidy amount was paid to each employee and refunded to the employer on that basis.
As the Scheme is now closed, to enable an accurate reconciliation between subsidy amounts refunded by
Revenue to employers and the amounts of subsidy that employers paid to their employees, Revenue requires
employers to report the actual subsidy paid to employees, on each pay date. This essential information will be
used firstly to reconcile and determine the amount, if any, due back to Revenue from employers or any
additional subsidy that may be due to employers, and secondly to update employees’ records with the subsidy
amount actually received in order to correctly charge income tax and Universal Social Charge (USC), as part of
the End of Year review.
Subsection 5(j) of section 28 of the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020 provides
the legislative basis under which Revenue requires employers to provide the subsidy paid data.
Reporting Subsidy Paid data:
Employers can report the subsidy they actually paid to employees, to Revenue by:
- Direct reporting through payroll submission (currently available). Please check with your payroll
provider to determine if this option is supported.
- Direct entry in ROS payroll reporting (currently available).
- New Subsidy CSV file upload (see link to Reporting Subsidy paid data to Revenue).
The Subsidy CSV file upload will be available to employers on 21 September 2020. All Subsidy paid information
must be returned to Revenue before 31 October 2020.
Negative amounts should not be reported for subsidy paid.
During the reconciliation process all active payslips submitted by employers will be examined by Revenue and
the correct subsidy payable amount for each will be determined based on the rules of the Scheme. The sum of
the subsidy payable (refund) amounts will be compared against the subsidy amounts paid by the employer and
a Statement of Account will be sent to the employer’s ROS inbox. Any under/over refund will be paid/repaid
to/by the employer.
Failure to provide subsidy paid data to Revenue.
If an employer fails to provide this information in full to Revenue, and where Revenue has paid an employer
a temporary wage subsidy amount in relation to a specified employee, Revenue will seek to recoup from
that employer the total temporary wage subsidy paid and related interest charges.
Detailed information regarding the TWSS Reconciliation Process can be found at
www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/communications/twss/reconciliation.aspx) or
in Section 6 of the Employer FAQ Guidance Document V18 (www.revenue.ie/en/employingpeople/
documents/pmod-topics/guidance-on-operation-of-twss.pdf)