BUDGET 2021
The Good, the Bad and the still to fight for.
The Good
Non-Funded commercial events & entertainment sector recognised as separate sector to funded arts industry for the first time .
Who would ever have thought that we would have been the first sector mentioned in a budget speech? And that entertainment would have been mentioned separately from the arts. This is a huge leap forward – the recognition of the non-funded, commercial sector as a sector in its own right. We had already been granted, another one of our pre submission asks - two places on the Arts & Culture Recovery Taskforce alongside the funded arts – one of which is Pearse Doherty from EPIC and the Event Industry Alliance
We now have a place at the table going forward, we have the engagement and support from the politicians and governmental departments to carry on campaigning and making ourselves heard, ensuring that our particular needs and concerns are considered separately from those of the Arts sector.
€50m addition to the Live performance Support Scheme
Reduction of VAT for the tourism & hospitality sector from 13.5% to 9%
Both of these will assist venues and promoters to put on shows and events with reduced capacities and help bolster the risk of such production being closed or postponed because C19 levels have been raised. Promoters and venues putting on shows means crew and contractors getting work and so helps all of us. This will be in a small way to start with as our audience numbers are so restricted at the moment but it does pave the way for events to come back in a small but meaningful way before we are allowed to sell at full capacity
Clarification that PUP claimants can work occasional days without losing their PUP benefit.
Allowing the balance of 2019 and 2020 preliminary tax to be deferred for a year without attracting interest or penalties
Earned Income PAYE credit raised by €150
Permitting PUP claimants to join the Part Time Job Incentive Scheme
Extension of the EWSS till the end of 2021
Support for grass root areas such as musical societies, drama societies, stage schools and dance schools.
All of these will help different groups of our industry at different levels and times. Some of them did not go far enough and we will continue to fight for increased supports for those on the PUP.
The Bad and the Still to Fight For
However whilst It is very clear that the Government has listened and engaged with us and while we welcome the package announced there were serious gaps in the support.
CRSS Scheme
The much touted CRSS scheme does not cater for the majority of our suppliers and contractors as they do not either have ‘premises’ or they are not public facing in the sense of having the pubic as customers.
EPIC has always stated the importance of specialist SME businesses.
There is nothing in this budget for these key cornerstones of the live industry, some are close to collapse now and we need to keep fighting for immediate funds to save them.All our SMEs have had little or no work since MarchWithout our SMEs the €50m will go unused if there are no suppliers and contractors to service these eventsThe CRSS only applies to Level 3 and above and we are prevented from working in any real sense at all the levels
PUP & EWSS
We need to continue to fight for these to be restored to their original levels and for the PUP to be extended until we are back to work in the fullest sense. It would also benefit us far more if we could take more than €480 worth of a work a month and declare it at the end of the year in our tax returns.
The Way forward
We will continue to fight for the above, to represent us at the Taskforce, to push for a Roadmap back to work and guidelines to open safely.
It has been 215 days since employers, workers and freelancers from viable operations in the Live Entertainment and Events Industry were mandated to close. The Non-Funded Event industry supports over 35,000 jobs, contributes over €3.5 billion Euro to the economy and in excess of 3 million annual bed nights to the wider tourism sector.