Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 November 2013
54. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if he has considered the report of the Forum on philanthropy and fundraising in relation to the number of days a non-tax resident person may stay in Ireland and when he expects to respond to the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51273/13]
View answerThe Report of the Forum on Philanthropy and Fundraising was published in May 2012. I understand that Recommendation IV of the report calls for the establishment of a “social innovation fund” to “support the establishment and growth of social innovations with the potential for transformative impact on critical social issues facing Ireland, including unemployment and the environment”. The report itself makes no mention of changes to the residence rules. However, I have received a separate proposal, developed jointly by the Forum and the Worldwide Ireland Funds, to set up a “jobs and social cohesion initiative”. The proposal involves modifying the residence rules to allow certain individuals to be in the State for up to 182 days in a year without becoming resident for tax purposes if they paid an upfront fee and an annual levy for ten years, with the money paid linked to the creation of jobs. The proposal also suggested the re-introduction of the “Cinderella rule” for participants in the scheme – that is, participants would only be treated as present in the State on a day for tax residence purposes if they were in the State at midnight on that day.
I asked the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance and Public Expenditure Reform to examine these proposals. The Committee has indicated that it thought the proposal had some merit but that certain issues warranted further scrutiny. While I am always open to constructive proposals, I have no plans to change the day counting rules at present.
