I propose to take Questions Nos. 320, 321 and 445 together.
I am advised by Revenue that the estimated costs of the Rent a Room relief, the Employment and Investment Incentive (EII), the Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP) and the Foreign Earnings Deduction (FED) in relation to 2018 (the latest year for which data are available) can be found in the ‘Cost of Tax Expenditures Report’ which is published on the Revenue website.
A summary table can also be found below.
These costs may be assumed to offer some indication of a broad nature of the savings to the Exchequer that might arise if the schemes/reliefs in question were ended for a given year. However, this does not take changes in taxpayer behaviour into account, or the secondary economic benefit provided by these schemes/reliefs.
Regarding the Key Employee Engagement Scheme (KEEP), I am advised by Revenue that the first year the scheme became available was 2018. Generally, a qualifying employee must hold any share options granted under the scheme for at least 12 months prior to exercise. Therefore, 2019 was the earliest date that individuals were likely to exercise their options to acquire shares in qualifying companies. An estimate of the cost for the 2019 tax year will be available later in the summer and will be available in the ‘Costs of Tax Expenditures Report’ .
Measure
|
Cost
|
Employment and Investment Incentive (EII)
|
€14.5 million (2018)
|
Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP)
|
€42.4 million (2018)
|
Foreign Earnings Deduction (FED)
|
€5.4 million (2018)
|
Rent-A-Room Relief
|
€19.7 million (2018)
|
Key Employee Engagement Programme (KEEP)
|
-
|