How to work: Why employees on Covid-related payments are being hit with a tax bill

Workers who were part of the temporary wage supplement scheme or received the PUP are liable to repay tax, but Revenue is at least trying to make it easier to address underpayments

If a worker received a TWSS or PUP payment last year, there was no tax deducted from the funds. They were, however, taxable.

Thousands of us will have received an unpleasant new year’s surprise from Revenue – a tax demand based on money paid as part of the state schemes introduced to support wages and salaries during the pandemic.

Since March last year, a large chunk of the workforce has participated in the temporary wage supplement scheme (TWSS) or availed of the pandemic unemployment payment (PUP) introduced by the government to help businesses navigate the effects of Covid-19.