Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

65. To ask the Minister for Finance when SARP became operational; if any returns were made retrospectively for SARP in respect of 2011; if so, the number of people and the amounts involved; the instructions that have been given to persons availing of SARP in terms of conditions applicable; the number of jobs filled by Irish residents that have been created as a result of SARP; and if he will estimate the amount that will be saved for the Exchequer if SARP was abolished in 2014. [21997/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Section 14 of Finance Act 2012 introduced the Special Assignee Relief Programme which is designed to reduce the cost to employers of assigning key individuals in their companies from abroad to take up positions in the Irish based operations of their employer. By way of eBrief No. 29/12 (dated 29/6/2012) Revenue advised that they had updated their Tax and Duty manuals to reflect matters relating to the new SARP. Details of the relief are also included in Revenue's Guide "Supporting Job Creation and other Enterprise Supports". Details of these and other documentation in relation to SARP, including the claim form, are available on Revenue's website at www.revenue.ie.

Paragraph 10 of Section 14 provides that relevant employers must submit an annual return to the Revenue Commissioners detailing, inter alia, the number of employees and the amounts of exempt income claimed under the programme. As 2012 was the first year of the programme, this return was not sought until after the end of the tax year 2012 in order to ensure that an accurate picture as possible of take up levels over a full tax year could be provided.

Employer returns received to date for 2012 indicate that there were 6 individuals who qualified for the relief with 2 of them receiving an aggregate total tax-free remuneration of €39,767. Job increases were reported as numbering 26 with 2 jobs also reported as retained because of the relief. It is expected that the 4 individuals who are not reported in the employer returns as receiving tax-free remuneration are expected to claim it when they submit Form 11 tax returns for 2012 in late 2013. Until the details from these returns are available it would be premature to attempt an estimate of the amount of tax that would be saved for the Exchequer if SARP was abolished in 2014.

It is possible that not all employers have submitted a SARP return yet. Also, the figures provided do not include the details for claims that are not included in employer returns received to date but will be made in the Form 11 tax returns for 2012 to be filed under the self-assessment system in October/November of 2013.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

66. To ask the Minister for Finance the conditions applicable for retirement relief; when the €2 million cap is due to come in; the revenue that could be raised for the Exchequer if the €2 million cap before CGT is applied was reduced to a cap of €1.5 million; the amount that could be raised for the Exchequer if the cap for transferring to a non family member was reduced from €750,000 to €500,000. [21998/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Retirement relief applies to a disposal of business or farming assets that have been owned and used for such purposes for a period of 10 years prior to the disposal. In order to qualify for the relief, an individual must be aged 55 years or over. The relief also applies to the disposal by an individual of all or part of the shares of a company which is a trading or farming company and the individual’s family company or a member of a trading group of which the holding company is the individual’s family company. It also applies to certain personally owned assets which are used by the company and to land which has been leased under the 1992, 1999 or 2005 EU Early Retirement From Farming Schemes, where the land was owned by an individual for a period of at least 10 years and used by him for the purposes of farming throughout that period.

Land which has been let for the period of 5 years prior to its disposal under a compulsory purchase order for the purposes of road-building or road-widening, but prior to its first letting was farmed for 10 years by the person making the disposal, also qualifies for retirement relief as does land which has been let at any time in the period of 15 years prior to its disposal but, prior to its first letting, was farmed for 10 years by the person making the disposal and the disposal is to a child. For this purpose, "child" includes certain nephews and nieces and foster children of the individual concerned.

The assets or shares in question must have been owned by the individual for a period of not less than 10 years ending on the date of the disposal and must have been chargeable business assets throughout the 10-year period ending with the disposal (subject to the variation mentioned above in relation to land that is let for part of the period of ownership).

In addition, where the disposal is of shares, the company in which the shares were held must have been a trading or farming company and the individual's family company, or a member of a trading company of which the holding company is the individual's family company, during a period of not less than 10 years ending on the date of disposal. Moreover, in any case, the individual must have been a working director of the company for a period of not less than 10 years during which he or she has been a full-time director for not less than 5 years.

In the case of disposals outside the family, the relief threshold is currently €750,000, that is to say, where the value of the consideration given for the disposal is less than or equal to €750,000, any gain accruing on disposal is fully relieved. Marginal relief may apply in certain situations. The current threshold of €750,000 that applies to disposals outside the family will be reduced to €500,000 for disposals of qualifying assets by individuals aged 66 or over on or after 1 January 2014.

In the case of disposals within the family, there is no restriction at present on the amount of relief that can be claimed but a cap of €3m will apply to disposals, on or after 1 January 2014, of qualifying assets by individuals aged 66 or over. If qualifying assets on which relief is granted are disposed of within 6 years, the relief granted is clawed back.

From information on personal tax returns for 2011, the most recent year available, 58 individuals claimed capital gains tax retirement relief within the family on disposals where the consideration exceeded €1.5million. The total aggregate consideration in respect of these 58 disposals was €292.8 million. The number of individuals that claimed capital gains tax retirement relief on disposals outside the family where the consideration exceeded €500,000 was 148. The total aggregate consideration in respect of these 148 disposals was €117.7 million.

However, as the amount entered on tax returns refer to the value of the consideration and not the actual capital gains, there is no dedicated basis for separately identifying an estimate of the yield that would have arisen in these cases if the lower cap had been in place for the 2011 tax year. Accordingly the specific information requested by the Deputy is not available.