Dáil Éireann Debate, Friday - 6 September 2019
145. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to further issues and delays with issuing of RICT certificates under the EIIS scheme to investors in time for the annual tax return and that the same issues were encountered in previous years; the steps being taken to rectify same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36198/19]
View answerThe Employment Investment Incentive Scheme (‘EII’) is a scheme that is covered by Article 21 of Commission Regulation No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014, declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty (referred to as the “General Block Exemption Regulation” or “GBER”). Revenue has informed me that the increased level of complexity arising from the requirement to determine compatibility with GBER means that each application takes longer to process.
For applications that are currently awaiting certification, Revenue has informed me that, of those on hand, over 70% are currently actively under review by a member of the EII Division. Decisions are reached on all complete applications without undue delay and certificates issued. However, the complexities of the scheme’s requirements, have meant that a large volume of applications are incomplete when first received, adding to delays.
Finance Act 2018 introduced changes to the administration of the scheme from 1 January 2019, including the move from certification of the relief by Revenue to self-assessment. Revenue expect that this change may alleviate some of the delays that may have existed.
