Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 28 Apr 1998

Vol. 490 No. 2

Written Answers - Corporate Donations.

Thomas P. Broughan

Question:

67 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Finance if he has satisfied himself that the section in the Finance Bill, 1998 outlining provisions whereby a body must have been exempted from tax for three years to avail of corporate donations which qualify for tax deductions is satisfactory; his views on whether shortening the qualifying period to six months while laying down strict procedures and guidelines for bodies participating in the scheme in the Finance Bill, 1999 would have a more immediate effect on the bodies concerned, many of which need to benefit from the changes immediately. [9533/98]

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy)

I presume the Deputy is referring to section 61 of this year's Finance Act which deals with tax relief for corporate donations to eligible charities. For a charity to be eligible for this relief, it must have been granted exemption by the Revenue Commissioners from tax for the purposes of section 207 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997. The legislation also requires that the eligible charity must have had this exemption for at least three years.

The reason for introducing the three year requirement is to ensure that any charity applying for the relief has a proven track record and that it is not being set up simply to benefit from the tax relief. A similar condition applies to the tax relief for donations to designated Third World charities introduced by my predecessor.