While the payments are made through the Ireland Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, which normally distributes welfare subsidies, Revenue will allow employers to pay through the normal payroll system, according to an announcement Wednesday. Irish workers pay income tax through employers under a Pay As You Earn system, similar to the U.S. withholding process.
Revenue also exempted the payments from any income tax or other deductions. To receive the payment through their employers, workers must either be temporarily laid off or paid less than €203 per week, while those permanently laid off can apply through Employment Affairs.
The payments are among many relief measures the Irish government is implementing as COVID-19 devastates local businesses in Ireland and around the world. The country is also waiving late fees on value-added tax payments, in the hopes that this will give companies extra cash that they need to avoid going under.
As the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control continue to advise social distancing with no clear end in sight, governments of the world are preparing for an ever-spiraling economic disaster.
In the U.S., lawmakers are debating how to best deliver cash to citizens as consumers avoid shops, restaurants and other places of business and service workers face massive layoffs.
On Wednesday President Donald Trump signed a relief measure, granting paid sick leave to people stricken by the virus, while Republicans in the Senate proposed granting payments of up to $1,200 to citizens, increased by $500 for every child. Democrats have made counterproposals and both sides are locked in a debate about how to best target relief for those affected by the slowdown in the fastest manner.
--Editing by Neil Cohen.
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