Trading Online Voucher - APPLY HERE

TOV grant rate is 50%. If you have submitted a claim for your Trading Online Voucher payment, it is being processed at the moment. We appreciate your patience whilst we deal with the huge volume of claims we are experiencing.    

If you have yet to submit a claim for payment, please do so via the submit.com link emailed to you.

Up Coming Trading Online Seminar: Book Here

If you have already made a claim for drawdown of your voucher, please read the information at the bottom of this page very carefully

The Trading Online Voucher Scheme is now open for a limited number of applications. 

Applications will only be accepted via our online platform at the above link.  You will need to fill out an online application form and upload your quotations to accompany it.  Only complete applications will be processed.

Due to the extremely competitive nature of the scheme, applications will be on a first come first served basis, and will not be considered unless the applicant has attended a Trading Online Voucher Seminar and has submitted three quotations for the work to be done.  Please refer to the guidelines below in relation to what can be considered eligible expenditure. NACE code references for excluded categories are available at the bottom of this page.   

NB  Please also note that applicants must be registered and trading for at least 6 months.

Note that the supplier for the work must be tax registered in their jurisdiction of operation.  If a supplier who cannot provide evidence of tax registration is engaged by you, the voucher cannot be paid.  

Our seminars are open to Meath, Kildare and Wicklow clients.

You may be able to attend a seminar being hosted by anther LEO.  Please check the relevant website. Not all businesses are eligible for the scheme, details of this can be found below.

With the trend ever increasing towards online spending, it is estimated that only 23% of small Irish businesses are engaged in any meaningful way in e-commerce sales.  For businesses employing less than ten people this percentage could be even lower.  It is now believed that of online purchases made in Ireland that 70% of these are done in overseas markets.

There is now an urgency to ensure that businesses recognise that this is happening and that they are encouraged and supported to correctly respond to this digital reality.

To this end, the Department of Communications, Climate and the Environment has launched a Trading Online Voucher Programme and has teamed up with the Local Enterprise Offices to deliver this to Irish businesses. 

The application process for the vouchers will be a competitive process.

Eligibility Criteria

• Vouchers will be available to a maximum value of €2,500 or 50% of eligible expenditure (inclusive of VAT), whichever is the lesser.
• Voucher approval must be gained prior to incurring any expense.
• Please note that advertising cannot comprise more than 30% of the approval and photography/videography no more than 80%
• Own labour is not an eligible expense. Note that own labour includes work from spouses or children.
• Third party costs only will be considered.
• All third party/supplier invoices must contain proper business details (eg, tax and business registration details).

The vouchers are targeted at businesses with the following profile:

• Limited online trading presence.
• Less than 10 employees.
• Turnover less than €2 million.
• Applicant business must be registered and trading for at least 6 months.

Ineligible Projects

• Companies with charitable status, commercial semi-state companies, not for profit organisations, trade associations and company representation bodies such as Chambers of Commerce are not eligible to participate in the scheme.
• Professional services specialising in IT type services who are already capable of trading online using existing in-house systems;
• Conference and seminars;
• Projects which are contrary to public policy.
• Duplication of support for projects which would be eligible for assistance from other State Agencies of EU funded Operational Programmes.
• Projects with employees in excess of 10 people.
• Projects deemed to be capable of proceeding in any event without scheme assistance, that is, deadweight.
• Projects essentially comprising importation and distribution.

What the vouchers cannot be used for

• Development of brochure websites.
• Purchase of non-internet related software.
• Anything other than online trading related activity.

Evaluation Process

• Client must attend pre-voucher application information seminar (details can be found on the bookings section of our website, or clients can attend a seminar in another LEO if that suits them).
• An evaluation committee will assess the applications and make recommendations for approval;
• A competitive process will be put in place to assist with the selection process.  Selection of successful applications will be based on the following criteria: - eligibility for scheme; - value added potential; - export potential; - job creation potential; - financial sustainability;

COVID-19 and Trading Online Vouchers: 

These rules apply to TOV's until further notice. 

1. The introduction of a second voucher of up to €2,500 for businesses that have already availed of a voucher under the Scheme but who find themselves needing to upgrade their existing e-commerce capability.

2. The drawdown of payments in respect of new vouchers in two instalments rather than in one instalment

3. Subscriptions to low cost online retail platform solutions, are eligible expenditure under the scheme

Please note that it is a compulsory part of the TOV application process that you attend a Trading Online Voucher seminar.  Your application cannot be processed if you haven’t attended a seminar.   LEO Meath holds these regularly – please see here, or if you cannot attend one of these, you are free to attend a seminar with any other LEO. Info on these available at www.localenterprise.ie.

Also, you will need to submit three quotations for the work to be done along with your application form.  This is to ensure you are getting value for money. However, if you are currently engaged with a website developer and wish to continue using their services then only one quote is required.

Voucher Administration

• Letter of offer with voucher to be sent out to successful applicant;
• Letter of offer signed, accepted and returned;
• The voucher has a life of 6 months from the date of approval;

If you have made a *completed claim to the LEO for your Trading Online Voucher payment, Meath County Council will endeavour to have the payment made to your account within three weeks.  This will not always be possible and will depend on volume of claims received.   Meath Co Co  will send you an email the day before payment reaches your account.

Due to the large number of emails, applications and claims we are experiencing at the moment, it would be appreciated if you would not contact the LEO unless more than three weeks has elapsed since you made your completed claim and you have not been paid. 

*Please note that only completed claims  will be processed. To assist with the smooth processing of your claim, please ensure that you have included all the documents required as per the full list which is available on your TOV letter of offer.

The Local Enterprise Office will require the following attached documentation to be completed and returned by you within 10 working days in order to set your business up on the County Council Finance system so that payment will be effected promptly on completion of your Trading Online Voucher work:

• Acceptance of the Trading Online Voucher
• Completed County Council New Supplier Set up and Amendment Form (this will be attached with your letter of offer – please read the accompanying note carefully.)
• Evidence of Tax Compliance

• Evidence of grantee business registration (if a sole trader/partnership – evidence of Business Name registration with the Companies Registration Office (CRO)/ if a company, evidence of company registration from the CRO.)

Acceptance and Claim

When making your claim, you will be sent an email from our online platform, Submit.com with a link to allow you to upload the following required information:  

• Written correspondence from the grantee with the associated web address, confirmation that it is operational to trade online and the project is complete.

• Declaration from the grantee stating that the work has been completed, detailing  anticipated benefits to the business.
• Declaration from the Web Developer (supplier) that the work has been completed and the website is fully operational and payment in full has been made by the grantee. 
• Evidence of Tax Compliance in respect of your business
• Supplier invoice(s) for the work completed which must  include supplier tax/vat registration number. Please note that that the Web Developer (supplier) must be registered for tax purposes in the domain in which s/he/the business operates.  
• Bank statement(s) showing proof of payment to the supplier.  NB the transaction reference must match the business name on the supplier invoice.
• Evidence of grantee business registration (if a sole trader/partnership – evidence of Business Name registration with the Companies Registration Office (CRO)/ if a company, evidence of company registration from the CRO.)