Salary Support Scheme changes to help other businesses

Changes have been made to the Salary Support Scheme to help certain businesses which may have previously missed out on the assistance.

The initiative is designed to help organisations which have suffered a reduction in revenue of at least 25% due to reduced demand or closure during a period of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A comparison for the same period in 2019 is usually used to determine whether there has been a reduction in revenue.

However, Treasury has been contacted by a series of companies which were relatively new in 2019 and more established in 2020.

As a result, government has announced for periods 12 and 13 (January and February 2021) businesses can make comparisons in turnover to the same period in either 2019 or 2020.

Any company which was previously rejected a claim before the new rules were brought in will have their case reviewed.

Officials say whilst period 12 (Janaury 2021) is now closed, applications for that time can be accepted if they are for the above reasons and on the basis the delay in submitting the application is due to circumstances beyond the applicant's control.

Any organisation which is now eligible for support under the changes is being invited to apply - a link to the scheme is available here.