Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 December 2015
126. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the number of taxpayers who were impacted in 2014 by the restriction on tax relief on contributions to large pension pots, as outlined in budget 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45943/15]
View answerThe Standard Fund Threshold (SFT) is the maximum allowable pension fund on retirement for tax purposes. The SFT was reduced in Budget 2014 and Finance (No 2) Act 2013 from €2.3 million to a level of €2 million, with effect from 1 January 2014. The legislation provided that any individual who had pension rights in excess of the SFT limit at the relevant date (i.e. 1 January 2014) was entitled to protect or "grandfather" those rights by applying to the Revenue Commissioners for a Personal Fund Threshold (PFT) certificate.
When the SFT was reduced to €2 million from 1 January 2014, the deadline for making a PFT application was 31 July 2015 and, by that date, Revenue had received a total of 749 applications for PFT certificates.
The reduction in the SFT also had an impact on individuals who had pension rights of less than €2 million as at 1 January 2014, but whose pension rights could possibly attain a level of between €2 million and €2.3 million at a later stage had the SFT limit not been reduced. It is not possible, however, to provide any estimate of the number of individuals who might have been impacted by this reduction.
