Debt owed to Revenue due to PUP payments?

falsedog11

Last year I started my own business around September 2020. I was advised by a financial/business advisor that the PUP payment was open to small businesses as reported in this article from October 2020:

thejournal (dot) ie/self-employed-pup-covid-19-120-per-week-5231645-Oct2020/

"The measure was announced as part of Budget 2021, and will let self-employed workers continue earning up to €480 per month – or €120 a week - without losing access to the Covid-19 welfare payment."

So I was earning less than the threshold amount (it was a new business so revenue was low). Then in April 2021 I was contacted by Revenue to say that they were investigating my case and that I wasn't long enough established to avail of the scheme. So they stopped my payments. I was fine with that. Now I have just received a letter from them saying that I am in debt to them and have to repay the full amount that I received over 7 or so months. Obviously coming just before Christmas this is a big bummer and is causing me all amounts of stress.

My question is: what right does Revenue have to reclaim money that they said was available to all self employed people when the scheme was rolled out? What is my best course of action here? Obviously I don't want (and feel that I have absolutely no obligation) to repay what I received from them in good faith. Basically is this Revenue not rolling back on the commitments they gave in 2020? So they have in some way voided their own contract?

Stratvs

Sorry to hear of the stress you're having especially at the time of year.

Revenue have no part in the payment of or repayment of overpaid PUP. That is entirely within the remit of the Department of Social Protection. So I'm not sure why Revenue are contacting you. Do you mean DSP contacted you, not Revenue?

The operational guidelines on self-employed PUP are included here :-

https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/aa03c-operational-guidelines-covid-19-pandemic-unemployment-payment-pup/#qualifying-conditions

one part is :-

• Be able to demonstrate that their reckonable income or reckonable emoluments from self-employment ceased or reduced on or after 13 March 2020 as a direct consequence of COVID-19 to the extent that they would be available to take up full-time employment.

You said you only started the business in September 2020, almost 6 months into COVID-19 so they may be taking the view that there was not a reduction/cessation due to COVID-19 to justify a claim to PUP when this business actually commenced since COVID-19.

If you contact them and ask they will probably give you the rationale behind the repayment demand.

ebbsy

Write to whoever.

Say that you were upfront when you made the application. (Which I presume you were).

Say that the application was approved based on the information you were given.

And then finish with the fact that based on the above, you have no further liability to the state.

Short and simple.