Retailer must repay €8.87m in Covid wage supports after losing Revenue challenge
The Tax Appeals Commission has ruled that an unnamed retailer must repay €8.87 million in Covid-19 wage subsidies. The Revenue Commissioners successfully argued that the retailer failed to prove the required 30 percent turnover reduction during the pandemic period.
Why it matters
This case underscores the strict oversight and accountability measures applied to government pandemic relief programs to prevent misuse of public funds.
A major retailer must repay €8.87 million to the Revenue Commissioners after wrongly claiming wage subsidy payments for its staff during the Covid-19 pandemic .
The Tax Appeals Commission has found that Revenue was correct in raising the €8.87 million Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme assessment against the unnamed retailer in 2024 after hearing evidence and submissions over eight days.
The retailer received the €8.872 million in special Covid wage subsidy payments across 10 months from September 2020 to June 2021 – an average €887,281 per month.
Revenue issued its assessment after finding that the retailer had failed to demonstrate to its satisfaction that its business had experienced or was expected to experience a 30 per cent reduction in turnover during the relevant periods.
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