Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent)
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83. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide details of all special tax arrangements available to executives/special assignees under section 12 of the Finance Act 2012; the number of persons claiming in each case and the value of tax foregone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26566/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Section 12 of Finance Act 2012 provides a deduction from income for income tax purposes for employees who travel abroad to certain countries as part of the duties of their employment. A deduction from salary of up to a maximum of €35,000 will be granted for employees travelling to the so-called BRICS countries, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa as part of the duties of their employment. The provision applies as respects the years 2012, 2013 and 2014. The individual claiming the deduction must be absent from the State for a minimum of 60 days in a period of 12 months beginning or ending in a relevant tax year. These days can be accumulated from a number of trips. However, in order to qualify each trip must have a minimum duration of four days.

The numbers of employees who availed of the scheme in 2012 was 12 and the amount of tax forgone was €61,000 (amount rounded to nearest €10). However, it is possible that not all potential claimants have submitted their claims yet. Also, the figures provided do not include the details for claims that may yet be made in the Form 11 tax returns for 2012 to be filed under the self-assessment system in October/November of 2013. The deduction was extended to include related travel to Egypt, Algeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the 2013 & 2014 tax years.