I am informed by the Minister for Finance that capital expenditure incurred on qualifying private hospitals qualifies for capital allowances, in the form of an industrial building annual allowance at the rate of 15% over 6 years and 10% in the seventh year. Capital allowances are granted for such capital expenditure incurred on the construction or refurbishment of a building providing that the building is in use for the purposes of the trade. In this regard capital expenditure must have been incurred during the period 15 May 2002 to 31 December 2009 for private hospitals generally and 28 March 2003 to 31 December 2009 for day-case hospitals. This termination period was extended to 30 June 2010, and further extended to 31 December 2013 in some cases, both extensions limited to certain specified circumstances.
A qualifying hospital must meet certain conditions in order to qualify for allowances and the following categories of claimants are precluded from getting relief: companies; trustees of a trust; any consultant or other individuals associated with the operation or management of a private hospital, whether employed or self-employed or involved in any other capacity; and property developers or connected persons in certain circumstances. Consultants' rooms and offices are excluded from qualifying and this exclusion applies even where consultants’ rooms might be used exclusively for the assessment or treatment of patients.
Expenditure on the construction or refurbishment of qualifying mental health centres also qualifies for capital allowances subject to certain conditions. Qualifying expenditure can be written off at a rate of 15% over 6 years and 10% in the seventh year. The allowances were originally available for qualifying expenditure incurred during the period 23 January 2007 to 31 December 2009. This termination period was extended to 30 June 2010, and further extended to 30 June 2011 in some cases, both extensions limited to certain specified circumstances.
I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that, due to taxpayer confidentiality reasons, they are unable to provide information in relation to individual or specific healthcare groups. In addition, information on private healthcare providers is not separately available. I am advised that a Costs of Tax Expenditures Table is available on the Revenue Statistics webpage at http://www.revenue.ie/en/about/statistics/costs-expenditures.html. This table provides an annual breakdown of the cost to the Exchequer for the 'Medical Insurance Premiums' and 'Health Expenses' reliefs from the years 2004 to 2014, the latest year for which data are available. The table will be updated in due course as newer data become available. A second table, available at http://www.revenue.ie/en/about/statistics/property-reliefs.html, lists information on certain property-based tax incentives including some which relate to hospitals. Finally, my Department does not hold or collate the information requested with regard to private healthcare providers.
