Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 10:

In page 10, to delete lines 39 to 42, and in page 11, to delete lines 1 and 2 and substitute the following:“(i) in the year in which the qualifying work was carried out by an amount which is the lesser of—

(I) the specified amount of the payment or payments, and
(II) the amount which reduces the income tax of that year of assessment to nil,”.

This amendment relates to the period of time in which the claimant can receive the benefit of the tax credit. The section is currently constructed so that in the two years after the year in which the work is done, the person will get the benefit of the tax credit. Why is it necessary that no credit at all can be given in the year in which the work is done? If there is a solid logistical or practical reason for that from a Revenue point of view, why does the benefit have to be spread out over the subsequent two years, as opposed to the single tax year in the year immediately following the year in which the work is done? We need to make this as attractive as possible to encourage people to avail of it, so perhaps the Minister could give us the logic behind that.