Retailer ordered to repay €8.87m in Covid subsidy payments

Millions on the line

The decision came after the Tax Appeals Commission (TAC) ruled in favour of the Revenue Commissioners, upholding an assessment made against the unnamed company under the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS).

According to the ruling, the business collected a total of €8.872 million through the scheme over a 10-month period between September 2020 and June 2021, averaging roughly €887,000 in support each month.

Revenue reviewed the payments and, in 2024, concluded that the retailer had failed to meet one of the scheme’s key eligibility rules: proving that its turnover had fallen by at least 30%.

Because that threshold was not satisfied, the company was found not to have qualified for the financial assistance, which was introduced to help employers affected by the pandemic between September 2020 and April 2022.

How the Covid subsidy appeal was decided

After evidence and submissions over eight days across 2025 and this year, Commissioner Simon Noone ruled in Revenue’s favour.

The retailer had argued that one non-essential division, forced to close during lockdowns, saw revenues fall by 30% from September to December 2020 and by 45% from January to June 2021.

The company also warned that, without the scheme, staff redundancies would have been a strong possibility. For more Irish business and consumer stories, see the latest Irish news. The ruling was reported by RTÉ.