Aldi is latest retailer to say it has no Covid relief debt to repay in Ireland

Aldi says it did not avail of the Government's wage subsidy scheme.

Aldi is the latest retailer to say it has nothing to repay the State in terms of Covid supports.

The German supermarket chain follows Tesco, earlier this week, in saying [url=

https://www.irishexaminer.com/business/companies/arid-40130090.html]it had no Covid support debt to repay in Ireland[/url].

“Aldi did not avail of the Government’s Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme or commercial rates waiver. Aldi has paid its commercial rates in full for 2020,” a spokesperson for Aldi Ireland said.

A raft of UK-based retailers – mainly supermarkets – have, this past week, said they would be handing back a combined £1.8bn (€2bn) in Covid tax relief to the UK government.

Tesco said it would repay £585m in the UK and Aldi said it would be repaying the British government £100m.

Britain’s supermarket groups have seen sales soar during the pandemic, but have been criticised for paying shareholder dividends while receiving tax relief.

Supermarkets in Ireland have not shut during the Covid crisis and have not qualified for the Irish wage subsidy schemes. Tesco recently said its Irish revenues surged 16%, to nearly €1.5bn, in the six months to the end of August.

Woodie’s DIY owner Grafton Group is the highest-profile company to repay Covid supports in Ireland to date, repaying more than €2.5m in August, which was mainly received in wage supports.

The British government in March exempted all retailers from paying the tax on their stores for the 2020/21 financial year to help them through the crisis.

However, the John Lewis Partnership, owner of the eponymous department store chain and Waitrose supermarket, said it had no plans to repay to the British government the business rates relief it has received during the pandemic.

The employee-owned group said the outlook remained “incredibly uncertain” and government support was crucial to help it navigate the crisis.