By Kenneth Fox
Over 60 per cent of people said the Government's Stay and Spend scheme has not impacted on their spending.
According to the Taxpayer Sentiment Survey of over 2,000 taxpayers from Taxback.com, 35% of people said the scheme would not persuade them to spend more, while a further 25% say they had never even heard of the scheme.
Taxback.com said that even before Ireland entered a second lockdown, the effectiveness of the Stay and Spend scheme was under question.
Speaking about the findings, Marian Ryan, consumer tax manager at Taxback.com,
“From the onset, there appeared to be a relatively poor take-up of the scheme by businesses generally, and its problems were further compounded by a growing uncertainty around its viability of the initiative particularly in the wake of the country moving into Level 3 and subsequently Level 5 restrictions.
Scheme awareness
"Our survey pours even more cold water on the scheme with 35 per cent saying it won’t persuade them to spend, and a worrying additional 25 per cent say they have never even heard of the scheme.”
She said the awareness of the scheme and what is included seems to be a big issue, and she added that many people who are aware of the scheme believe that they need to travel away from home to avail of it.
Taxback.com said they are now recommending that there should be a “scheme reboot” once the country emerges from the latest lockdown,
Ms. Ryan added "There is merit in this initiative and if it can help businesses at all, so it’s important that all that can be done is done to promote and support it.
"41 per cent of respondents in our survey said they would spend more because of the scheme – and while it’s not the majority, buy-in from them could really help many restaurants, cafes and hotels to re-establish their businesses once they are allowed to reopen."
