Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 5 November 2019

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage

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

If the Minister is going to produce such a report, he should also include an examination of the subscriptions individual employees pay that are not wholly, exclusively and necessarily required for the performance of their duties but which they pay, be it to a professional body or a representative body. They currently get no tax relief on those subscriptions in the same way as somebody paying a trade union subscription does not get any tax relief. Those issues should be examined. They do not have to be the main part of the report but the Minister should have regard to them because not all employers pay those subscriptions or membership fees and, technically, because they are not a necessary requirement of somebody's employment, that person cannot claim them as a deductible expense.

My next point is tangential but it might be my only chance to raise it. Can the Minister give us an update of the review of the flat rate expenses? I am very conscious that we are here considering the Finance Bill but for 2020, there may be changes to people's take-home pay that we are not considering because Revenue is conducting its review of flat rate expenses. Any change that will come in will be an administrative one so it will not come before the House. It is something we need to be cognisant of and at least discuss. Can the Minister give us any update on where that stands?

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