Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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58. To ask the Minister for Finance the total amount of receipts registered as part of the stay-and-spend scheme to the latest available date; and the total amount of tax credits claimed as a result. [3042/21]

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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86. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of claims made under the stay-and-spend tax refund scheme to date; the total cost of such claims; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3444/21]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 58 and 86 together.

I am advised by Revenue that in order to claim the Stay and Spend Tax Credit taxpayers are required to upload a copy of their receipt(s) for qualifying expenditure to the Revenue Receipts Tracker and then make a formal claim for the tax credit when submitting their annual Income Tax Return.

Under the scheme a claim may be made in relation to qualifying expenditure incurred between the period 1 October 2020 and 30 April 2021. Broadly, qualifying expenditure includes expenditure on either holiday accommodation or “eat in” food and drink, with a minimum expenditure amount of €25 per transaction being required.

Since the Stay and Spend scheme commenced on 1 October 2020 a total of 43,196 receipts have been uploaded to the Revenue Receipts Tracker, as at 18 January 2021. The expenditure recorded on these receipts amounts to €6,822,398 and the potential tax cost is €1,364,480, assuming all such expenditure is claimed and qualifies in full for tax relief.

Claims relating to qualifying expenditure incurred in the period from 1 October 2020 to 31 December 2020 can be made when an individual is submitting his/her 2020 Income Tax Return, which is now available for submission.

As at 18 January 2021 a total of 4,441 claims have been included in 2020 Income Tax Returns. These claims relate to €1,527,149 of the qualifying expenditure recorded on the Revenue Receipts Tracker to date and the tax cost of same amounts to €305,430. However, as the filing deadline for the 2020 Income Tax Return is not until 31 October 2021, information on the total number of claims and cost for the 2020 year of assessment will not be available until after the filing date and the returns have been processed.

Finally, subsequent to claims being made in respect of this new scheme and any other relief or deduction, verification of such reliefs and deductions forms part of Revenue’s comprehensive risk assessment programme.