David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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112. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to expand the start-up relief for entrepreneurs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30100/20]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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In Budget 2015, the Seed Capital Scheme (SCS) was relaunched and rebranded as SURE, or Start-up Refunds for Entrepreneurs. SURE provides a refund of tax paid in the previous 6 tax years to those in PAYE employment or those recently unemployed, where they invest funds into a new company set up by them.

The general conditions for SURE are that you must:

- establish a new company carrying on a new qualifying trading activity,

- have mainly PAYE income in the previous four years,

- take up full-time employment in the new company as a director or an employee,

- invest cash in the new company by purchasing new ordinary shares, and

- keep the purchased shares for at least four years.

A review of SURE was carried out and changes to the administration of the scheme were implemented in Finance Act 2018. From 1 January 2019 qualifying companies can submit applications for eligible SURE investments on a self-assessment basis. This means that a company that wishes to claim SURE no longer needs advance approval from Revenue. A company can satisfy itself that it qualifies for SURE and, accordingly, obtain certification on a self-assessment basis via the Revenue Online Service (‘ROS’).

While I have no plans at the present time for further changes to the scheme, these matters are kept under regular review.