Pandemic Unemployment Payment - two level payment structure

[ATC110]

How will earnings be assessed for the €200 threshold?

Will it be gross or net earnings? According to the Citizens Information Service the income thresholds do not apply to the self-employed but the DEASP cannot confirm this.

If it did apply to the self-employed - is income assessed as turnover or gross/net profit?

 

[myate]

They've had a few months now where they could have got Revenue involved in this. They know what most of us earn, especially us self employed, based on our last return last October.

 

[lughildanach]

They've had a few months now where they could have got Revenue involved in this. They know what most of us earn, especially us self employed, based on our last return last October.

Revenue know what employed people earn pretty much as they get paid. However, for the self-employed, the income on their tax return last October will be from 2018 and may not reflect their income at the start of this year.

Its not clear what reference period the Department are going use. The January/February reference period is used by Revenue for the wage subsidy scheme, its not clear if they will use that for PUP as well. I imagine it will much more difficult for the Department to access and process this information than Revenue. The wages information is already input into Revenue systems, extracting that and applying it to a process in another Department will have its own logistical problems. Up to this point (before COVID), the Department have relied upon payslips and P60s to calculate entitlement. It will represent a big shift if they use Revenue information directly. I'm not sure whether this might cause GDPR issues too, although their information sharing protocols are much better than they used to be.

There will also be anomolies for those who have a seasonal or other irregular income and for those who were on unpaid leave during the reference period.

The previous flat rate system was effective because it was simple. This is where the complexities start, and I imagine there will be a considerable number of people who end up falling through the cracks.