Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 November 2013
44. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide detail based on 2012 data of the exact number of policyholders who are now estimated to be affected as a result of his proposed amendments to section 8 of the Finance Bill on health insurance relief; if fewer than 577,000 policyholders will now be impacted by the new restrictions on health insurance tax relief; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48408/13]
View answerSection 8 of the of the Finance (No. 2) Bill of 2013 provides for the Budget day announcement of the new ceilings of €1,000 per adult and €500 per child on the amount of medical insurance premiums that will qualify for tax relief. I will be bringing forward an amendment at Committee Stage to provide that where a student is being charged a full adult premium that the adult ceiling for relief will apply. This amendment was sought by the health insurance industry. In addition, the current scheme of relief requires a defined relationship between the policyholder and the individual insured in order for the tax relief to apply for premiums paid on behalf of others. I have decided to remove this requirement through a Committee Stage amendment also.
I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that sufficient personal details for individuals covered by health insurance policies which would enable students in full-time education to be identified are not necessary for administering the granting of tax relief at source for medical insurance premiums, and are, therefore, not required to be included in the annual returns received from health insurers. Consequently there is no basis on which an estimate of the impact of applying the adult ceiling to students who are being charged a full adult premium could be compiled. Such information could not be obtained without requiring the health insurers to provide additional personal details in their annual returns, followed by carrying out a significant development of the Revenue Commissioners’ computer systems.
Furthermore, it is not possible to anticipate the impact on claims for tax relief that might arise due to the removal of the existing defined relationship between the policyholder and the individual insured in order for the tax relief to apply. Notwithstanding the above, it is expected that the numbers affected would be reduced as a result of these Committee Stage Amendments.
