Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 July 2020
342. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Finance if he received advice from his officials regarding the distributional impact of the stay and spend incentive; if persons in the lower tax bracket or higher income tax bracket are more likely to avail of the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20482/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn preparing the Stay and Spend Tax Credit measure, I received advice from officials in my Department and Revenue on a wide range of issues, including the number of persons that may be in a position to avail of the incentive fully or partially.
The relief applies equally to all taxpayers regardless of whether they pay tax at the standard or marginal rates and the minimum level of expenditure to start to benefit from the incentive is €25. The credit will be off-set against the claimant’s income tax liability in the year of assessment, after other allowances, deductions or reliefs have been given to the claimant. However, in order to maximise the number of potential beneficiaries of the proposal, the Bill provides that if the credit available to a claimant is higher than their income tax liability in the year of assessment, any excess credit may be off-set against their liability to USC in that same year. This credit can be used to reduce a claimant’s liability to income tax and USC in the year of assessment to nil.
