Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 December 2018
140. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the annual cost of the foreign earnings deduction for the previous five years including 2018; the number of companies that have availed of the scheme in each of these years by multinational companies and SME companies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53754/18]
View answerThe Foreign Earnings Deduction (FED) is provided for in section 823A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (TCA). It provides relief from tax on up to €35,000 of salary for employees who travel out of State to certain countries on behalf of their employer. In order to qualify for FED, an employee must spend a minimum of 30 days abroad in a year and each trip must consist of at least three (3) consecutive days in a qualifying country.
I am advised by Revenue that the most recent data available on the annual cost and the number of individuals who have availed of the scheme are as follows:
|
Year |
No. of individuals |
Exchequer Cost (€m) |
|
2016 |
413 |
3.5 |
|
2015 |
472 |
3.2 |
|
2014 |
144 |
1.1 |
|
2013 |
135 |
1 |
|
2012 |
108 |
0.8 |
I am further advised by Revenue that FED is an allowance that is applied for by the employee through their own tax returns and is not returned at a company level. Therefore, it is not possible to provide the information on the number of companies associated with employees availing of the scheme broken down by multinational companies and SMEs, as requested by the Deputy.
FED is available for travel to the following thirty countries:
Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Japan, Singapore, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Chile, Oman, Kuwait, Mexico, Colombia, Pakistan.
