Sinn Féin Councillor Conor D. McGuinness has welcomed the plan to allow SMEs that are hit by the COVID-19 crisis to defer payments of commercial rates to local authorities for a period of three months. McGuinness had called had earlier called for a commercial rates ‘holiday’ for the hospitality, tourism, retails and SME sectors for a prescribed period of time to deal with the increasing hardship that businesses find themselves in as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
McGuinness said:
“Tens of thousands of SMEs are already in serious trouble due to the COVD-19 outbreak, and a number of sectors will face significant cash flow problems in the time ahead, due to a reduction in trade, tourism, and more recent measures implemented by Government.
“The payment holiday of three months is to be welcomed and I commend the caretaker government for listening to the views of all parties and introducing this measure.
The deferral period is for three months, however I believe this will need to be reviewed as we get a better sense of how long this crisis will last. Many businesses in the hospitality and tourism sectors will lose on out their busiest season and this will undoubtedly have a knock-on effect later in the year.
I maintain my call for other measures to support the SME sector including
– Facilitating the deferral of VAT payments for the hospitality, tourism, retail and SME sectors for a prescribed period of time, such as 3 months;
– The scrapping of charges for card transactions, including contactless and chip-and-pin transactions to include non-cash payments.
“This will be a difficult time for workers and many of our indigenous sectors, and we must work together to respond to this challenge in the interests of workers and families.”
Cllr. Conor D. McGuinness 