EWSS and Proprietary Directors

Please note: the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) has now ended.

Revenue have confirmed that the EWSS can be claimed in respect of proprietary directors, subject to the following conditions:

• the employer meets the eligibility criteria for the EWSS,
  
  
• the proprietary director is on the payroll of the eligible employer, and
  
  
• the proprietary director has been paid wages which were reported to Revenue on the payroll of the eligible employer at any stage between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020.

Where a person is a proprietary director of two or more eligible companies, a claim for EWSS can only be submitted in respect of a single company. In this situation the following will apply:

• the proprietary director will be required to elect one company for the purposes of making EWSS claims for the period of the scheme. The election will be deemed to be made on the first submission of an EWSS claim in respect of the proprietary director,
  
  
• once an election is made it cannot be changed during the term of the scheme,
  
  
• no claims for EWSS in respect of the same proprietary director should be submitted by the other companies.