Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Section 118 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (TCA), sets out the general charging provisions for benefit-in-kind (BIK). Unless otherwise specified, a charge to tax arises on any benefit provided to a director or employee by his or her employer. The taxable value of the benefit is generally the cost to the employer of providing the benefit.

However, subsections 5I to 5L provide for exemptions from BIK charges where an employer incurs expense in providing certain health and well-being related benefits to a director or employee.

The exempted benefits include provision of:

• a qualifying annual medical check-up;
• healthcare;
• COVID-19 testing; and
• influenza (flu) vaccination.

The exemptions are subject to a number of conditions including, but not limited to, the following:

• the benefits must be made generally available to all staff;
• all qualifying medical check-ups must be carried out by a medical practitioner;
• any healthcare provided by an employer must meet the definition of healthcare as set out in section 469 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997;
• any COVID-19 testing must be necessary for the performance of the duties of the office or employment of the director or employee; and
• any COVID-19 testing or influenza vaccinations must be carried out or administered in accordance with all relevant regulatory requirements.

I have no plans at present to extend the exemptions from BIK to include additional workplace health and well-being supports. There would be a number of administrative and implementation issues to consider in any extension of the exemptions, and any extension of the exemptions would create a cost to the Exchequer in terms of revenue foregone and that cost must be recovered elsewhere.

I would note, however, that where a director or employee incurs a health expense and does not receive any payment or reimbursement from their employer towards the cost of same, they may be eligible to claim tax relief for that cost under section 469 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, which provides for tax relief on health expenses.

Revenue's Tax and Duty Manual sets out further details in relation to:

• exemptions from BIK charges for health and well-being related benefits at: www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/tdm/income-tax-capital-gains-tax-corporation-tax/part-05/05-01-01n.pdf
• income tax relief for health expenses at: www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/tdm/income-tax-capital-gains-tax-corporation-tax/part-15/15-01-12.pdf.