In light of the restrictions introduced at the end of 2020 to deal with the deteriorating epidemiological situation relating to COVID-19 in Ireland, the government has agreed a further waiver of commercial rates payments in respect of the period from 01 January 2021 until 31 March 2021 inclusive.
This follows the previous waiver of commercial rates from 27 March 2020 until 27 September 2020 (extended to 27 December 2020 due to ongoing restrictions in some parts of the country), which took the form of a credit in lieu of commercial rates and applied to all businesses with some limited exclusions (e.g. utilities, banks and large supermarkets).
The 2021 commercial rates waiver will be applied in the first quarter of 2021 to businesses most seriously affected by restrictions. The government is yet to issue details of the categories of business that will be eligible for the waiver but it is expected these will be determined in line with the government's decisions on level five restrictions. When finalised, details of the categories of business to benefit from the waiver of commercial rates will be issued to local authorities to enable administration of the waiver.
Commercial ratepayers are urged to keep in contact with their local authority to enable them to avail of the commercial rates waiver as soon as possible once the categories of business and mechanism are clarified.
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