Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move recommendation No. 12:

In page 26, after line 41, to insert the following:

"16. The Minister shall, within 2 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas a report on increasing the size of the VAT Compensation Fund for Charities to €40 million per annum.".

The VAT compensation scheme was introduced by the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, in budget 2018 to reduce the tax burden on charities. It helps to partially offset the VAT paid by charities and community and voluntary organisations. The refund is available at a proportion of their VAT cost based on non-public funding. Over the last number of years, the claims made by charities have been more than €40 million, which is well in excess of the cap of €5 million. While budget 2024 is doubling the cap to €10 million, many organisations are still unable to be fully recompensed. It is a missed opportunity to help charities and community and voluntary organisations with the costs that have arisen over the last two to three years. It is a small amount of money, but would make a big difference. I ask that this be considered for next year's budget as well. As a precursor to that, preparing and laying a report on increasing the cap before the Houses would be of assistance.