Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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215. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the possibility of reintroducing tax-free shopping following Brexit. [45690/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Council Directive 2007/74/EC and Council Directive 2007/74/EC and the European Communities (Tax Exemption for Certain Non-Commercial Goods Imported in the Personal Luggage of Travellers from Third Countries) Regulations 2008 (Statutory Instrument 480 of 2008), provide the legislative basis for the exemption from value added tax and excise duty on goods imported by persons travelling to and from outside of the EU. The exemptions set out restrictions on the value of goods and quantitative limits on excisable products.

Ireland has been clear that it wants the closest possible relationship between the EU and the UK, including on trade, in order to minimise the impact on our trade and economy.

While the framework of the future relationship is being discussed with a view to agreeing a Political Declaration alongside the Withdrawal Agreement, detailed negotiations on the exact nature of the future relationship cannot begin until after the UK formally ceases to be an EU Member State on 29 March 2019. A transition period is being agreed within the context of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, in order to allow additional time for the EU and the UK to finalise the details of the future relationship.

Taxation and level playing field issues will form part of the future relationship discussions. It is therefore too early to speculate on the detail of a future relationship whilst negotiations are ongoing.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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216. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to make changes to the single parent tax credit; if he will consider putting in place an amendment to the rules by which both parents deemed to be providing substantial care to a child can be in receipt of this tax credit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45764/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Single Person Child Carer Credit (SPCCC) of €1,650 per annum is given where a person has a “qualifying child” resident with him or her for the whole or greater part of the year of assessment and the other conditions of the relief are also satisfied.

Only one credit is available is respect of any qualifying child, and an individual who is a primary claimant in respect of more than one qualifying child can only receive one credit.

Agreement as to who will be the primary carer of a child is a matter for the parents or guardians. Where the custody of a child is shared equally between two individuals, the legislation provides that the primary claimant shall be the person in receipt of the child benefit payment from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.

In circumstances where the primary carer cannot utilise the credit – for example, because of insufficient taxable income - the primary carer may relinquish the credit and a secondary claimant may claim it. The requirement for a primary claimant to relinquish the credit before a claim from a secondary claimant can be considered is necessary, as only one credit is available in respect of a qualifying child or children and depending on individual circumstances, an individual might wish to retain the credit in order to offset any tax liability that might arise as a result of a review of their income tax liabilities in any of the years concerned.

On the question of whether there are any plans to amend the current rules of the SPCCC, I appreciate that it may not always be a straightforward determination between parents or guardians, but there are no firm plans at present. That said, on foot of engagement with the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission in 2018, I have asked my officials to look at this measure in 2019 and in that context, any proposals for how to better allocate the tax credit are always welcome.

In the meantime, I am satisfied that the SPCCC is targeting limited resources to where they are most needed, noting that in 2016 the credit costs €90.3m and was claimed by 65,700 families.