More than 7,000 firms that availed of a scheme introduced to help businesses during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic failed to engage meaningfully with Revenue to address their debt. The Debt Warehousing Scheme, which included a 0 per cent interest rate, was introduced in 2020 to provide liquidity support to businesses, allowing them to defer paying various tax liabilities until their financial position returned to normal. Some €3 billion of the €3.
2 billion included in the warehouse at its peak in January 2022 has now been either settled or secured under a phased payment arrangement, Revenue said on Tuesday. Still, just over 7,000 businesses that availed of the scheme “failed to engage meaningfully” with Revenue to address their warehoused debt in advance of the key deadline of May 1st, 2024, and were subsequently removed from the warehouse.Investors chase US stocks as valuation risks mount In response to queries, Revenue said these 7,000 businesses had warehoused debt totalling €100 million at that time. Once removed from the warehouse, this debt was subject to interest at the relevant rates of 8 per cent or 10 per cent, as appropriate. “In the interim period, some of the debt owed by these businesses has now been repaid, whilst some has been determined as uncollectable,” said a Revenue spokeswoman.She said the €200 million of warehoused debt which has not been settled or secured as of December 31st includes the outstanding debt from these 7,000 businesses, but she could not provide a breakdown of how much of the €100 million owed by those businesses in May has since been collected. However, the remainder — some €100 million — was deemed “uncollectable”