Employee Benefits I

Table of Contents

TAXES CONSOLIDATION ACT

Part 5 Principal Provisions Relating to the Schedule E Charge (ss. 112-128F)

Chapter 1 Basis of assessment, persons chargeable and extent of charge (s. 112-112B)

112.

Basis of assessment, persons chargeable and extent of charge.

(1)Income tax under Schedule E shall be charged for each year of assessment on every person having or exercising an office or employment of profit mentioned in that Schedule, or to whom any annuity, pension or stipend chargeable under that Schedule is payable, in respect of all salaries, fees, wages, perquisites or profits whatever therefrom, and shall be computed on the amount of all such salaries, fees, wages, perquisites or profits whatever therefrom for the year of assessment.

(2)

(a)In this section, “emoluments” means anything assessable to income tax under Schedule E.

(b)Where apart from this subsection emoluments from an office or employment would be for a year of assessment in which a person does not hold the office or employment, the following provisions shall apply for the purposes of subsection (1):

(i)if in the year concerned the office or employment has never been held, the emoluments shall be treated as emoluments for the first year of assessment in which the office or employment is held, and

(ii)if in the year concerned the office or employment is no longer held, the emoluments shall be treated as emoluments for the last year of assessment in which the office or employment was held.

(3)Notwithstanding subsection (1) and subject to subsections (4) and (6), the income tax under Schedule E to be charged for the year of assessment 2018 and subsequent years of assessment in respect of emoluments to which Chapter 4 of Part 42 applies or is applied shall be computed on the amount of the emoluments paid to the person in the year of assessment.

(4)Where emoluments chargeable under Schedule E arise in the year of assessment 2017, and those emoluments are also chargeable to income tax in accordance with subsection (3) for the year of assessment 2018 or a subsequent year of assessment, the amount of the emoluments chargeable to income tax for the year of assessment 2017 shall, on a claim being made by the person so chargeable, be reduced to the amount of emoluments that would have been charged to income tax had subsection (3) applied for that year of assessment.

(5)Where a person dies and emoluments are due to be paid to that deceased person, the payment of such emoluments shall be deemed to have been made to the deceased person immediately prior to death.

(6)

(a)In this subsection, ‘proprietary director’ has the same meaning as it has in section 472.

(b)Subsection (3) shall not apply to –

(i)emoluments paid directly or indirectly by a body corporate (or by any person who is connected (within the meaning of section 10) with the body corporate) to a proprietary director of the body corporate, or

(ii)emoluments in respect of which a notification has issued under section 984(1).

112A.

Taxation of certain perquisites.

(1)In this section –

(a)as respects so much of a payment that qualifies for relief under section 470, ‘appropriate percentage’, ‘authorised insurer’, ‘relevant contract’ and ‘relievable amount’ have the same meanings, respectively, as in section 470,

(b)as respects so much of a payment that qualifies for relief under section 470B, ‘authorised insurer’ and ‘relevant contract’ have the same meanings, respectively, as in section 470B,

(c)’employee’ and ’employer’ have the same meanings, respectively, as in section 983, and

(d)’qualifying insurer’ and ‘qualifying long-term care policy ‘ have the same meanings, respectively, as in section 470A.

(2)Section 112 shall apply in relation to a perquisite comprising the payment to –

(a)an authorised insurer under a relevant contract, or

(b)a qualifying insurer under a qualifying long-term care policy

as if any deduction authorised by –

(i)in a case in which paragraph (a) applies, section 470(3)(a), or

(ii)in a case in which paragraph (b) applies, section 470A(8)(a),

had not been made.

(2A)Where, for any relevant year of assessment, an employer makes a payment of emoluments to an employee consisting of a perquisite in the form of a payment to an authorised insurer under a relevant contract, and such payment qualifies for relief under section 470B for that relevant year of assessment, section 112 shall apply as if the perquisite were increased by the amount of the age-related tax credit or age-related tax credits, as the case may be, that the employee is entitled to under section 470B in respect of the payment.

(3)Where, for any year of assessment, an employer –

(a)makes a payment of emoluments consisting of a perquisite of the kind mentioned in subsection (2), and

(b)deducts therefrom and retains in accordance with –

(i)section 470(3)(a), an amount equal to the appropriate percentage for the year of assessment of the relievable amount in relation to the payment, or

(ii)section 470A(8)(a), an amount equal to the appropriate percentage for the year of assessment of the payment,

the employer shall be assessed and charged to income tax in an amount equal to the amount so deducted and retained and that amount shall be allowable as a deduction in charging to tax the profits or gains of such employer.

(4)Subsections (3) to (6) of section 238 shall apply, with necessary modifications, in relation to a payment referred to in subsection (3) as they apply in relation to a payment to which that section applies.

112AA.

Taxation of certain perquisites: employees of authorised insurers and tied health insurance agents.

(1)In this section –

‘authorised insurer’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 470;

‘emoluments’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 983;

‘employee’ includes an office holder and any person who is an employee within the meaning of section 983;

‘relevant contract’ means a contract of insurance, or any other agreement, arrangement or transaction, as the case may be, which provides specifically, whether in conjunction with other benefits or not, for the reimbursement or discharge, in whole or in part, of –

(a)actual health expenses (within the meaning of section 469), being a contract of medical insurance, or

(b)dental expenses other than expenses in respect of routine dental treatment (within the meaning of section 469), being a contract of dental insurance;

‘relevant contract price’ is the amount that would be payable, by an individual who is neither a relevant employee nor connected with a relevant employee, under a relevant contract, by way of a bargain made at arm’s length, before deducting any amount the individual would have been entitled to deduct and retain by virtue of section 470(3)(a);

‘relevant employee’ means an employee of –

(a)an authorised insurer,

(b)a tied health insurance agent, or

(c)any person connected with a person referred to in paragraph (a) or (b);

‘tied health insurance agent’ means any person who, directly or indirectly, enters into an agreement or arrangement with an authorised insurer –

(a)whereby that person undertakes to refer all proposals of insurance, made under a relevant contract, to the authorised insurer with whom the person has made or entered into the agreement or arrangement, or

(b)which restricts in any way that person’s freedom to refer proposals of insurance, made under a relevant contract, to an authorised insurer other than the authorised insurer with whom the agreement or arrangement has been made or entered into.

(2)This section applies where –

(a)a relevant employee enters into a relevant contract, or

(b)an individual connected with a relevant employee enters into a relevant contract,

arising from, or in connection with, the employment of the relevant employee.

(3)Where this section applies in relation to a relevant contract –

(a)an amount determined by the formula –

(A – B)

where –

Ais the relevant contract price for the year, and

Bis the sum of the amount paid, if any, for the year by the relevant employee and the connected individual, under the relevant contract,

shall be treated as emoluments of the employment of the relevant employee in a year of assessment,

(b)Chapter 3 of this Part shall not apply, and

(c)section 112A shall not apply to the relevant employee or the employer of the relevant employee.

(4)Where an amount is treated as emoluments in a year of assessment under this section –

(a)for the purposes of section 470, the amount (referred to in this subsection and subsection (5) as the ‘notional payment amount’) shall be treated as if it was an amount paid –

(i)under the relevant contract concerned to an authorised insurer by the relevant employee concerned, and

(ii)in the year of assessment,

and

(b)subject to subsection (5), notwithstanding that the payment of the notional payment amount is deemed under paragraph (a) to occur after 6 April 2001 –

(i)section 470(3) shall not apply to the notional payment amount, and

(ii)section 470(2) shall apply to the notional payment amount as if the relevant employee concerned had made a payment under a relevant contract of that amount to an authorised insurer.

(5)Where an amount (in this subsection referred to as the ‘actual payment amount’) is paid under the relevant contract concerned by the relevant employee concerned or an individual connected to that employee –

(a)section 470(2) shall apply subject to the following modifications:

(i)a reference to a payment shall be construed as a reference to an amount being the sum of the notional payment amount and the actual payment amount;

(ii)the amount by which the income tax to be charged on the individual for the year of assessment, other than in accordance with section 16(2), is reduced shall itself be reduced by the percentage of the relevant contract price which the actual payment amount represents,

and

(b)section 470(3) shall apply subject to the following modifications:

(i)a reference to a payment shall be construed as a reference to an amount being the sum of the notional payment amount and the actual payment amount;

(ii)the amount the individual shall be entitled to deduct and retain shall be reduced by the percentage of the relevant contract price which the notional payment amount represents.

112B.

Granting of vouchers.

(1)In this section –

‘benefit’ means a tangible asset other than cash;

‘qualifying incentive’ means a relevant incentive that is the first or the second relevant incentive given to an employee in a year of assessment where –

(a)in the case of a first relevant incentive, the value does not exceed €1,000, and

(b)in the case of a second relevant incentive, the cumulative value of the first and second relevant incentives does not exceed €1,000;

‘relevant incentive’ means either a voucher or a benefit that is given to an employee by his or her employer in a year of assessment where the following conditions are satisfied:

(a)the voucher or the benefit does not form part of a salary sacrifice arrangement;

(b)the voucher can only be used to purchase goods or services and cannot be redeemed, in full or in part, for cash;

‘salary sacrifice arrangement’ means any arrangement under which an employee forgoes the right to receive any part of his or her remuneration due under his or her terms or contract of employment and in return his or her employer agrees to provide him or her with a relevant incentive.

(2)A qualifying incentive shall be exempt from income tax and shall not be reckoned in computing income for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts.

Chapter 2 Computational provisions (ss. 113-115)

113.

Making of deductions.

(1)In this section, “emoluments” means all salaries, fees, wages, perquisites or profits or gains whatever arising from an office or employment, or the amount of any annuity, pension or stipend, as the case may be.

(2)Any deduction from emoluments allowed under the Income Tax Acts for the purpose of computing an assessment to income tax under Schedule E shall be made by reference to the amount paid or borne for the year or portion of the year on the emoluments of which the computation is made.

114.

General rule as to deductions.

Where the holder of an office or employment of profit is necessarily obliged to incur and defray out of the emoluments of the office or employment of profit expenses of travelling in the performance of the duties of that office or employment, or otherwise to expend money wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the performance of those duties, there may be deducted from the emoluments to be assessed the expenses so necessarily incurred and defrayed.

114A.

Deduction in respect of certain expenses of remote working.

(1)In this section –

‘qualifying residence’ means a residential premises that is also used by a remote worker to perform the duties of his or her office or employment;

‘relevant expenses’, in relation to a remote worker, means expenses incurred and defrayed by the remote worker in respect of the provision of electricity, heating or an internet service in his or her qualifying residence;

‘remote worker’ means a person who is the holder of an office or employment of profit and who performs the duties of his or her office or employment –

(a)by working from his or her residential premises on a full-time or part-time basis, or

(b)by working some of his or her normal working time from his or her residential premises, with the remainder of that normal working time being spent in his or her normal place of employment or in some other place;

‘residential premises’ means, a dwelling or part of a dwelling which is occupied by an individual as his or her residence;

‘specified amount’, in relation to a year of assessment, means the amount of expenditure which qualifies for income tax relief in accordance with this section.

(2)Where in any year of assessment a remote worker, having made a claim in that behalf, proves that he or she has incurred and defrayed relevant expenses out of the emoluments of the office or employment of profit, he or she shall be entitled to claim a deduction (in this section referred to as ‘remote working relief’) from the emoluments to be assessed in respect of the specified amount determined in accordance with subsection (4).

(3)Subject to this section, where, for a year of assessment, an individual (in this section referred to as the ‘claimant’), on making a claim in that behalf, proves that relevant expenses were incurred by –

(a)in a case in which the claimant is a married person assessed to tax for the year of assessment in accordance with section 1017 or a civil partner assessed to tax for the year of assessment in accordance with section 1031C, the claimant or his or her spouse or civil partner, or

(b)in any other case, the claimant,

then the claimant shall be entitled to remote working relief.

(4)The specified amount, in relation to relevant expenses incurred by a remote worker in any year of assessment, shall be 30 per cent of an amount determined by the following formula:

where –

A is the amount of the relevant expenses incurred and defrayed by the remote worker in the year of assessment,

B is the number of days in the year of assessment the remote worker performed the duties of his or her office or employment of profit from his or her qualifying residence,

C is the number of days in the year of assessment, and

D is any amount reimbursed or to be reimbursed, directly or indirectly to the remote worker in relation to those expenses by his or her employer.

(5)Where the cost of incurring and defraying relevant expenses is shared by 2 or more persons (other than a person referred to in subsection (3)(a)) residing in a qualifying residence in a year of assessment, then, for the purposes of any claim for relief under this section, the total cost of incurring and defraying those expenses in the year of assessment shall be apportioned between each of the persons concerned by reference to the amount of those expenses that were defrayed by each such person.

(6)On making a claim under this section, a claimant shall provide to the Revenue Commissioners, through such electronic means as the Revenue Commissioners make available, full particulars of the relevant expenses, including –

(a)a copy of the statement issued by the service provider in respect of the service provided to the qualifying residence that constitutes the relevant expenses, and

(b)any other relevant information that may reasonably be required by the Revenue Commissioners to determine whether the requirements of this section are met.

(7)Where relief is given under this section to any individual in respect of relevant expenses, no relief or deduction under any other provision of the Income Tax Acts shall be given or allowed in respect of those relevant expenses.

115.

Fixed deduction for certain classes of persons.

Where the Minister for Finance is satisfied, with respect to any class of persons in receipt of any salary, fees or emoluments payable out of the public revenue, that such persons are obliged to lay out and expend money wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the performance of the duties in respect of which such salary, fees or emoluments are payable, the Minister for Finance may fix such sum as in that Minister’s opinion represents a fair equivalent of the average amount for a year of assessment so laid out and expended by persons of that class, and in charging the tax on such salary, fees or emoluments, there shall be deducted from the amount of such salary, fees or emoluments the sums so fixed by the Minister for Finance; but, if any person would but for this section be entitled to deduct a larger amount than the sum so fixed, that sum may be deducted instead of the sum so fixed.

Chapter 3

Expenses allowances and provisions relating to the general benefits in kind charge (ss. 116-120B)

116.

Interpretation (Chapter 3).

(1)In this Chapter –

“business premises”, in relation to a body corporate, includes all premises occupied by that body for the purpose of any trade carried on by it and, except when the reference is expressly to premises which include living accommodation, includes so much of any such premises so occupied as is used wholly or mainly as living accommodation for any of the of the body corporate or for any persons employed by the body corporate in any to which this Chapter applies;

“business use”, in relation to the use of an asset by a person, means the use of that asset by the person in the performance of the duties of the person’s office or employment;

“control”, in relation to a body corporate, means the power of a person to secure –
(a)by means of the holding of shares or the possession of voting power in or in relation to that or any other body corporate, or
(b)by virtue of any powers conferred by the constitution, articles of association or other document regulating that or any other body corporate,
that the affairs of the first-mentioned body corporate are conducted in accordance with the wishes of that person;

“director” means –
(a)in relation to a body corporate the affairs of which are managed by a board of directors or similar body, a member of that board or body,
(b)in relation to a body corporate the affairs of which are managed by a single director or similar person, that director or person,
(c)in relation to a body corporate the affairs of which are managed by the members themselves, a member of the body corporate,
and includes any person in accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of a body corporate, defined in accordance with the preceding provisions of this definition, are accustomed to act, but a person shall not, within the meaning of this definition, be deemed to be a person in accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of a body corporate are accustomed to act by reason only that those directors act on advice given by the person in a professional capacity;

“employee” includes the holder of an office;

“employment”, means an employment such that any emoluments of the employment would be assessed under Schedule E, and references to persons employed by, or employees of, a body corporate include any person who takes part in the management of the affairs of the body corporate and is not a director of the body corporate;

“premises”, includes lands;

“private use” in relation to an asset, means use of the asset other than business use.

(2)Any reference in this Chapter to anything provided for a director or employee shall, unless the reference is expressly to something provided for the director or employee personally, be construed as including a reference to anything provided for the spouse, civil partner, family, children of the civil partner, servants, dependants or guests of that director or employee, and the reference in the definition of “business premises” to living accommodation for directors or employees shall be construed accordingly.

(3)

(a)Subject to subsection (4) and paragraphs (b) and (c), the employments to which this Chapter applies shall be employments the emoluments of which, estimated for the year of assessment in question according to the Income Tax Acts and on the basis that they are employments to which this Chapter applies, and without any deduction being made under section 114 in respect of money expended in performing the duties of those employments, are €1,905 or more.

(b)Where a person is employed in 2 or more employments by the same body corporate and the total of the emoluments of those employments for the year of assessment in question estimated in accordance with paragraph (a) is €1,905 or more, all those employments shall be treated as employments to which this Chapter applies.

(c)Where a person is a director of a body corporate, all employments in which the person is employed by the body corporate shall be treated as employments to which this Chapter applies.

(4)All the directors of, and persons employed by, a body corporate over which another body corporate has control shall be treated for the purposes of paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (3) (but not for any other purpose) as if they were directors of that other body corporate or, as the case may be, as if the employment were an employment by that other body corporate.

117.

Expenses allowances.

(1)Subject to this Chapter, any sum paid in respect of expenses by a body corporate to any of its directors or to any person employed by it in an employment to which this Chapter applies shall, if not otherwise chargeable to income tax as income of that director or employee, be treated for the purposes of section 112 as a perquisite of the office or employment of that director or employee and included in the emoluments of that office or employment assessable to income tax accordingly; but nothing in this subsection shall prevent a claim for a deduction being made under section 114 in respect of any money expended wholly, exclusively and necessarily in performing the duties of the office or employment.

(2)The reference in subsection (1) to any sum paid in respect of expenses includes a reference to any sum put by a body corporate at the disposal of a director or employee and paid away by him or her.

118.

Benefits in kind: general charging provision.

(1)Subject to this Chapter, where –

(a)a body corporate incurs expense in or in connection with the provision, for any of its directors or for any person employed by it in an employment to which this Chapter applies, of –

(i)living or other accommodation,

(ii)entertainment,

(iii)domestic or other services, or

(iv)other benefits or facilities of whatever nature, and

(b)apart from this section the expense would not be chargeable to income tax as income of the director or employee,

then, sections 112, 114 and 897 shall apply in relation to so much of the expense as is not made good to the body corporate by the director or employee as if the expense had been incurred by the director or employee and the amount of the expense had been refunded to the director or employee by the body corporate by means of a payment in respect of expenses, and income tax shall be chargeable accordingly.

(2)Subsection (1) shall not apply to expense incurred by the body corporate in or in connection with the provision for a director or employee in any of its business premises of any accommodation, supplies or services provided for the director or employee personally and used by the director or employee solely in performing the duties of his or her office or employment.

(3)Subsection (1) shall not apply to expense incurred by the body corporate in or in connection with the provision of living accommodation for an employee in part of any of its business premises which include living accommodation if the employee is, for the purpose of enabling the employee properly to perform his or her duties, required by the terms of his or her employment to reside in the accommodation and either –

(a)the accommodation is provided in accordance with a practice which since before the 30th day of July, 1948, has commonly prevailed in trades of the class in question as respects employees of the class in question, or

(b)it is necessary in the case of trades of the class in question that employees of the class in question should reside on premises of the class in question;

but this subsection shall not apply where the employee is a director of the body corporate in question or of any other body corporate over which that body corporate has control or which has control over that body corporate or which is under the control of a person who also has control over that body corporate.

(4)Subsection (1) shall not apply to expense incurred by the body corporate in or in connection with the provision of meals in any canteen in which meals are provided for the staff generally.

(5)Subsection (1) shall not apply to expense incurred by the body corporate in or in connection with the provision for a director or employee, or for the director’s or employee’s spouse, civil partner, children or dependants, or the children of the director’s or employee’s civil partner of any pension, annuity, lump sum, gratuity, contribution to a Personal Retirement Savings Account (within the meaning of Chapter 2A of Part 30), contribution to a PEPP (within the meaning of Chapter 2D of Part 30) or other like benefit to be given on the death or retirement of the director or employee.

(5A)

(a)Subsection (1) shall not apply to expense incurred by the body corporate in or in connection with the provision for a director or employee of a monthly or annual bus, railway or ferry travel pass issued by or on behalf of one or more approved transport providers and which must be for a service for which the approved transport provider is contracted or licensed.

(b)In this subsection –

‘approved transport provider’ means –

(i)a public transport operator within the meaning of section 2 of the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008,

(ii)the holder of a licence in respect of a public bus passenger service under Part 2 of the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009, or

(iii)a person who provides a ferry service within the State, operating a vessel which holds a current valid –

(I)passenger ship safety certificate,

(II)passenger boat licence, or

(III)high-speed craft safety certificate,

issued by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.

(5B)

(a)Subsection (1) shall not apply to expense incurred by the body corporate in or in connection with the provision, without any transfer of the property in it, for a director or employee of a mobile telephone for business use where private use of the mobile telephone is incidental.

(b)The mobile telephones to which the exemption provided by this subsection applies include any mobile telephone provided in connection with a car or van notwithstanding that the vehicle is made available as referred to in section 121 or 121A, as the case may be.

(c)In this subsection ‘mobile telephone’ means telephone apparatus which –

(i)is not physically connected to a land-line, and

(ii)is not a cordless telephone.

(d)For the purposes of paragraph (c) –

‘cordless telephone’ means telephone apparatus designed or adapted to provide a wireless extension to a telephone, and used only as such an extension to a telephone that is physically connected to a land-line;

‘telephone apparatus’ means wireless telegraphy apparatus designed or adapted for the purposes of transmitting and receiving either or both spoken messages and information (being information for the same purposes as the Electronic Commerce Act 2000) and connected to a public telecommunications network (as defined in the European Communities (Telecommunications Services) Regulations 1992 (S.I. No. 45 of 1992)).

(5C)

(a)Subsection (1) shall not apply to expense incurred by the body corporate in or in connection with the provision for a director or employee of a high-speed internet connection to the director’s or employee’s home for business use where private use of the connection is incidental.

(b)In this subsection ‘high-speed internet connection’ means a connection capable of transmitting information (being information for the same purposes as the Electronic Commerce Act 2000) at a rate equal to or greater than 250 kilobits per second.

(5D)

(a)Subsection (1) shall not apply to expense incurred by the body corporate in or in connection with the provision, without any transfer of the property in it, for a director or employee of computer equipment for business use where private use of the computer equipment is incidental.

(b)In this section ‘computer equipment’, in addition to a computer, includes –

(i)a facsimile machine, and

(ii)printers, scanners, modems, discs, disc drives, and other peripheral devices designed to be used by being connected to or inserted in a computer and computer software to be used in such equipment.

(5E)

(a)Subsection (1) shall not apply to expense incurred by the body corporate, or incurred by a director or employee and reimbursed by the body corporate, in or in connection with the payment on behalf of a director or employee of the annual membership fees of a professional body where membership of that body by the director or employee is relevant to the business of the body corporate.

(b)Membership of a professional body by a director or employee of a body corporate may be regarded as relevant to the business of that body corporate where –

(i)it is necessary for the performance of the duties of the office or employment of the director or employee, or

(ii)it facilitates the acquisition of knowledge which –

(I)is necessary for or directly related to the performance of the duties of the office or employment of the director or employee, or

(II)would be necessary for or directly related to the performance of prospective duties of the office or employment of the director or employee with that body corporate.

(c)This subsection shall not apply as respects the year of assessment 2011 and each subsequent year of assessment.

(5F)Subsection (1) shall not apply to expense incurred by the body corporate in or in connection with the provision, without any transfer of the property in it, for a director or employee of a mechanically propelled road vehicle which is –

(a)designed or constructed solely or mainly for the carriage of goods or other burden, and

(b)of a type not commonly used as a private vehicle and unsuitable to be so used.

(5G)

(a)Subject to paragraph (c) of this subsection, subsection (1) shall not apply to expense of up to €1,250 incurred by the body corporate in, or in connection with, the provision for a director or employee of a bicycle or bicycle safety equipment, where –

(i)the bicycle and bicycle safety equipment provided is unused and not second-hand,

(ii)the director or employee uses the bicycle or bicycle safety equipment, or the bicycle and the bicycle safety equipment, as the case may be, mainly for qualifying journeys, and

(iii)bicycles or bicycle safety equipment, or bicycles and bicycle safety equipment, as the case may be, are made available generally to directors and employees of the body corporate.

(b)In this subsection –

‘bicycle’ means a pedal cycle;

‘bicycle safety equipment’ includes –

(i)bicycle bells and bulb horns,

(ii)bicycle helmets that conform to European product safety standard CEN/EN 1078,

(iii)bicycle lights, including dynamo packs,

(iv)bicycle reflectors and reflective clothing, and

(v)such other safety equipment as the Revenue Commissioners may allow;

‘cargo bicycle’ means a bicycle with a special purpose frame which has been designed to carry large or heavy loads, or passengers other than the rider, by means of a bulk storage capacity container or platform integrated into, or affixed to, the frame of the bicycle, in front of or behind the rider;

‘normal place of work’ means the place where the director or employee normally performs the duties of his or her office or employment;

‘pedal cycle’ means –

(i)a bicycle or tricycle which is intended or adapted for propulsion solely by the physical exertions of a person or persons seated thereon, or

(ii)a pedelec,

but does not include a moped or a scooter;

‘pedelec’ means a bicycle or tricycle which is equipped with an auxiliary electric motor having a maximum continuous rated power of 0.25 kilowatts, of which output is progressively reduced and finally cut off as the vehicle reaches a speed of 25 kilometres per hour, or sooner if the cyclist stops pedalling;

‘qualifying journey’, in relation to a director or employee, means the whole or part of a journey –

(i)between the director’s or employee’s home and normal place of work, or

(ii)between the director’s or employee’s normal place of work and another place of work, where the director or employee is travelling in the performance of the duties of his or her office or employment.

(c)A director or employee shall not, by virtue of this subsection, be relieved from a charge to income tax under subsection (1) more than once in any period of 4 consecutive years of assessment, commencing with the year of assessment in which the director or employee concerned is first provided with a bicycle or bicycle safety equipment.

(d)Notwithstanding paragraph (a), where the expense or part thereof, as the case may be, is in connection with the provision of a pedelec, the amount referred to in paragraph (a) shall be €1,500.

(e)Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (d), where the expense or part thereof, as the case may be, is in connection with the provision of a cargo bicycle, the amount referred to in paragraph (a) shall be €3,000.

(5H)Subsection (1) shall not apply to expense incurred by the body corporate in, or in connection with, the provision, for a director or employee, in any of its business premises, of a facility for the electric charging of vehicles, where all the employees and directors of that body corporate can avail of the facility.

(5I)

(a)Subject to paragraph (b), subsection (1) shall not apply to expense incurred by the body corporate in or in connection with the provision for a director or employee of a qualifying medical check-up, where –

(i)qualifying medical check-ups are made available generally by the body corporate to all directors and employees of that body corporate, or

(ii)the director or employee is required by the terms of his or her office or employment to undergo the qualifying medical check-up.

(b)A director or employee shall not, by virtue of this subsection, be relieved from a charge to income tax under subsection (1) more than once in any year of assessment, unless subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) applies.

(c)In this subsection –

‘medical practitioner’ means a person who is registered in the register established under section 43 of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007;

‘qualifying medical check-up’ means a medical examination carried out by a medical practitioner to test a person’s state of health.

(5J)

(a)Subsection (1) shall not apply to health expenses incurred by the body corporate in or in connection with the provision for a director or employee of health care, where health care is made available generally by the body corporate to all directors and employees of that body corporate.

(b)In this subsection, ‘health care’ and ‘health expenses’ have the same meanings respectively as they have in section 469.

(5K)

(a)Subsection (1) shall not apply to expense incurred by the body corporate in or in connection with the provision for a director or employee of a Covid-19 test where –

(i)the test is necessary for the performance of the duties of the office or employment of the director or employee, and

(ii)Covid-19 tests are made available by the body corporate to all directors and employees of that body corporate where necessary for the performance of the duties of the office or employment of those directors and employees.

(b)In this subsection –

‘Covid-19’ means a disease caused by infection with the virus SARS-CoV-2 and specified as an infectious disease in accordance with Regulation 6 of, and the Schedule to, the Infectious Diseases Regulations 1981 (S.I. No. 390 of 1981) or any variant of the disease so specified as an infectious disease in those Regulations;

‘Covid-19 test’ means a relevant test, administered in accordance with the instructions of the manufacturer of the test, the purpose of which is to detect the presence of Covid-19 in the person to whom the test is administered;

‘rapid antigen test’ means a test that relies on detection of viral proteins (antigens) using a lateral flow immunoassay that gives results in less than 30 minutes;

‘relevant test’ means –

(a)an RT-PCR test,

(b)a rapid antigen test of a kind –

(i)included, for the time being, in the common list of Covid-19 rapid antigen tests agreed in accordance with the Council Recommendation of 21 January 2021 , and

(ii)that complies with the requirements of Directive 98/79/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 October 1998 or, as appropriate, Regulation (EU) 2017/746 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2017 ,

(c)a rapid antigen test of a kind that complies with regulatory requirements under the laws of a state other than a Member State that are equivalent to the requirements referred to in paragraph (b)(ii);

‘RT-PCR test’ means a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test.

(5L)

(a)Subsection (1) shall not apply to expense incurred by the body corporate, or incurred by a director or employee and reimbursed by the body corporate, in or in connection with the provision for a director or employee of an influenza vaccine, where influenza vaccines are made available generally by the body corporate to all directors and employees of that body corporate.

(b)In this subsection, ‘influenza vaccine’ means an influenza vaccine specified in column 1 of the Eighth Schedule to the Medicinal Products (Prescription and Control of Supply) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 540 of 2003) and administered in accordance with the requirements specified in columns 2 to 6 of that Schedule opposite the mention of the product concerned.

(c)Relief shall not be given under section 469 in respect of the expense referred to in paragraph (a) incurred by a director or employee and reimbursed by the body corporate.

(6)Any reference in this section to expense incurred in or in connection with any matter includes a reference to a proper proportion of any expense incurred partly in or in connection with that matter.

(7)Where expense is incurred by a person connected with a body corporate, being expense which if incurred by the body corporate would be expense of the kind mentioned in subsection (1)(a), the body corporate shall be deemed for the purposes of this section to have incurred the expense, and subsection (1) shall apply accordingly in relation to any person, being a director or employee of the body corporate, in respect of whom the expense was incurred.

(8)A person shall be regarded as connected with a body corporate for the purposes of subsection (7) if the person is –

(a)a trustee of a settlement (within the meaning of section 794) made by the body corporate, or

(b)a body corporate,

and would be regarded as connected with the body corporate for the purposes of section 10.

118A.

Costs and expenses in respect of personal security assets and services.

(1)In this section –

‘asset’ includes equipment or a structure, but not any mode of transport or a dwelling or grounds appurtenant to a dwelling;

‘service’ does not include a dwelling or grounds appurtenant to a dwelling.

(2)This section applies where there is a credible and serious threat to a director’s or an employee’s personal physical security, which arises wholly or mainly because of the director’s or employee’s office or employment.

(3)This section applies to expense incurred by the body corporate, or incurred by a director or employee and reimbursed to the director or employee by the body corporate –

(a)in –

(i)the provision or use of, or

(ii)expenses connected with,

an asset or service for the improvement of personal security which is provided for or used by the director or employee to meet the threat to his or her personal physical security, and

(b)with the sole object of meeting that threat.

(4)Subject to subsections (6) and (7), where this section applies, section 118(1) shall not apply to an expense to which this section applies.

(5)Where the body corporate intends the asset to be used solely to improve personal physical security, any use of the asset incidental to that purpose shall be ignored.

(6)Where the body corporate intends the asset to be used only partly to improve personal physical security, subsection (4) shall apply only to that part of the expense incurred in relation to the asset which is attributable to the intended use for that purpose.

(7)Subsection (4) shall only apply to an expense incurred in relation to a service referred to in subsection (3) where the benefit resulting to the director or employee consists wholly or mainly of an improvement of his or her personal physical security.

(8)In determining whether or not this section applies in relation to an asset or service, the fact that –

(a)the asset becomes fixed to land (whether the land constitutes a dwelling or otherwise), or

(b)the director or employee is, or becomes, entitled –

(i)to the property in the asset, or

(ii)if the asset is a fixture, to any estate or interest in the land concerned,

(c)the asset or the service improves the personal physical security of a member of the director’s or employee’s family or household, as well as that of the director or employee,

does not exclude the expense incurred by the body corporate from coming within subsection (4).

118B.

Revenue approved salary sacrifice agreements.

(1)In this section –

‘approved transport provider’ has the same meaning as in section 118(5A);

‘exempt employee benefit’ means a benefit specifically approved by the Revenue Commissioners which is referred to in subsection (2)(a)(i), (ii) and (iii);

‘salary sacrifice arrangement’ means any arrangement under which an employee forgoes the right to receive any part of his or her remuneration due under his or her terms or contract of employment, and in return his or her employer agrees to provide him or her with a benefit;

‘approved profit sharing scheme’ shall be construed in accordance with section 510.

(2)

(a)The amount of the remuneration forgone under any salary sacrifice arrangement specifically approved by the Revenue Commissioners in relation to –

(i)travel passes issued by an approved transport provider under section 118(5A),

(ii)shares appropriated to employees and directors under an approved profit sharing scheme within the meaning of Chapter 1 of Part 17, which are exempt from a charge to tax by virtue of section 510(4), and

(iii)a bicycle or bicycle safety equipment provided to a director or employee and which is exempt from a charge to tax by virtue of section 118(5G),

shall be exempt from tax.

(b)Any amount of remuneration forgone by an individual under any salary sacrifice arrangement and not exempt from tax by virtue of paragraph (a) shall be deemed to be the payment of emoluments by an employer and income tax shall be chargeable accordingly.

(3)Where an exempt employee benefit is provided to the spouse, civil partner or dependant of, or a person connected with, the individual, being an individual who has entered into a salary sacrifice arrangement, then any such benefit shall be deemed to be the payment of emoluments by an employer and income tax shall be chargeable accordingly.

(4)Where –

(a)but for this subsection, subsection (2)(a) would apply, and

(b)there is an arrangement or scheme in place whereby the employee is recompensed, wholly or partly, by the provision of an exempt employee benefit together with a compensating payment,

then the provisions of subsection (2)(a) shall not apply and the remuneration foregone shall be treated as the payment of emoluments by an employer and income tax shall be chargeable accordingly.

(5)Where a salary sacrifice arrangement is entered into in respect of any right, bonus, commission or any other emolument which arises to an individual after the end of the year of assessment, then subsection (2)(a) shall not apply and the remuneration foregone shall be treated as the payment of emoluments by an employer for that year and income tax shall be chargeable accordingly.

(6)This section has effect as on and from 31 January 2008.

119.

Valuation of benefits in kind.

(1)Any expense incurred by a body corporate in the acquisition or production of an asset which remains its own property shall be disregarded for the purposes of section 118.

(2)Where the making of any provision mentioned in section 118(1) takes the form of a transfer of the property in any asset of the body corporate and, since the acquisition or production of that asset by the body corporate, that asset has been used or has depreciated, the body corporate shall be deemed to have incurred in the making of that provision expense equal to the value of that asset at the time of the transfer.

(3)Where an asset which continues to belong to the body corporate is used wholly or partly in the making of any provision mentioned in section 118(1), the body corporate shall be deemed for the purposes of that section to incur (in addition to any other expense incurred by it in connection with the asset, not being expense to which subsection (1) applies) annual expense in connection with the asset of an amount equal to the annual value of the use of the asset, but where any sum by means of rent or hire is payable by the body corporate in respect of the asset –

(a)if the annual amount of the rent or hire is equal to or greater than the annual value of the use of the asset, this subsection shall not apply, and

(b)if the annual amount of the rent or hire is less than the annual value of the use of the asset, the rent or hire shall be disregarded for the purposes of section 118(1).

(4)For the purposes of subsection (3), the annual value of the use of an asset shall be taken to be –

(a)in the case of an asset being premises, the rent which might reasonably be expected to be obtained on a letting from year to year if the tenant undertook to pay all usual tenant’s rates, and if the landlord undertook to bear the costs of repairs and insurance, and the other expenses, if any, necessary for maintaining the premises in a state to command that rent, and

(b)in the case of any other asset, 5 per cent of the market value (within the meaning of section 548) of the asset at the time when it was first applied by the body corporate in making any provision mentioned in section 118(1).

120.

Unincorporated bodies, partnerships and individuals.

(1)This Chapter shall apply in relation to unincorporated societies, public bodies and other bodies as it applies in relation to bodies corporate and, in connection with this Chapter, the definition of “control” in section 116(1) shall, with the necessary modifications, also so apply.

(2)This Chapter shall apply in relation to any partnership carrying on any trade or profession as it would apply in relation to a body corporate carrying on a trade if so much of this Chapter as relates to directors of the body corporate or persons taking part in the management of the affairs of the body corporate were deleted; but –

(a)”control”, in relation to a partnership, means the right to a share of more than 50 per cent of the assets, or of more than 50 per cent of the income, of the partnership, and

(b)where a partnership carrying on any trade or profession has control over a body corporate to which this Chapter applies (“control” being construed for this purpose in accordance with the definition of that term in section 116(1)) –

(i)any employment of any director of that body corporate by the partnership shall be an employment to which this Chapter applies, and

(ii)all the employments of any person who is employed both by the partnership and by the body corporate (being employments by the partnership or the body corporate) shall, for the purpose of ascertaining whether those employments or any of them are employments to which this Chapter applies, be treated as if they were employments by the body corporate.

(3)Subsection (2) shall apply in relation to individuals as it applies in relation to partnerships, but nothing in this subsection shall be construed as requiring an individual to be treated in any circumstances as under the control of another person.

(4)

(a)This subsection applies where an expense, which if it had been incurred by a body corporate would be an expense of the kind mentioned in subsection 118(1)(a), is incurred by a public body in relation to a person who holds an office or exercises an employment in that or in another public body.

(b)Where this subsection applies the expense shall be treated for the purposes of this Chapter as if it had been incurred by the public body in which the office is held or the employment is exercised and as if that public body was a body corporate.

(5)For the purposes of this section ‘public body’ means –

(a)the Civil Service of the Government and the Civil Service of the State,

(b)the Garda Síochána, or

(c)the Permanent Defence Force.

120A.

Exemption from benefit-in-kind of certain childcare facilities.

(1)In this section –

“childcare service” means any form of child minding service or supervised activity to care for children, whether or not provided on a regular basis;

“qualifying premises” means premises which –

(a)are made available solely by the employer,

(b)are made available by the employer jointly with other persons and the employer is wholly or partly responsible for financing and managing the provision of the childcare service,

(c)are made available by any other person or persons and the employer is wholly or partly responsible for financing and managing the provision of the childcare service, or

(d)are made available by the employer jointly with other persons or are made available by any other person or persons and the employer is wholly or partly responsible for capital expenditure on the construction or refurbishment of the premises,

and in respect of which it can be shown that the requirements of Article 9, 10 or 11, as appropriate, of the Child Care (Pre-School Services) Regulations, 1996 (S.I. No. 398 of 1996), have been complied with.

(2)Subsection (1) of section 118 shall not apply to any expense incurred by a body corporate in or in connection with the provision of a childcare service in qualifying premises for a child of a director or employee.

(3)In the case of a qualifying premises within the meaning of paragraph (d) of the definition of ‘qualifying premises’, the exemption provided for in subsection (2) shall be limited to the amount expended by the employer on capital expenditure on the construction or refurbishment of the premises.

(4)This section shall not apply as respects the year of assessment 2011 and each subsequent year of assessment.

120B.

Certain benefits in kind: members of Permanent Defence Force.

(1) Notwithstanding section 118, section 112 shall not apply in relation to any expense incurred by or on behalf of the Minister for Defence –

(a)in or in connection with the provision of living accommodation to a member of the Permanent Defence Force on land occupied by, used by, or under the control (whether temporarily or otherwise) of the Permanent Defence Force, or

(b)in or in connection with the provision of health care to a member of the Permanent Defence Force.

(2)In this section –

‘health care’ means prevention, diagnosis, alleviation or treatment of an ailment, injury, infirmity, defect or disability, and includes care received by a woman in respect of a pregnancy, but does not include –

(a)routine ophthalmic treatment, or

(b)cosmetic surgery or similar procedures, unless the surgery or procedure is necessary to ameliorate a physical deformity arising from, or directly related to, a congenital abnormality, a personal injury or a disfiguring disease;

‘routine ophthalmic treatment’ means the provision and repairing of spectacles or contact lenses.

Chapter 4

Other benefit in kind charges (ss. 121-122A)

121.

Benefit of use of car.

(1)

(a)In this section –

“business mileage for a year of assessment”, in relation to a person, means the total number of whole kilometres travelled in the year in the course of business use by that person of a car or cars in respect of which this section applies in relation to that person;

“business use”, in relation to a car in respect of which this section applies in relation to a person, means travelling in the car which that person is necessarily obliged to do in the performance of the duties of his or her employment;

“car” means any mechanically propelled road vehicle designed, constructed or adapted for the carriage of the driver or the driver and one or more other persons other than –
(a)a motor-cycle
(b)a van (within the meaning of section 121A), or
(c)a vehicle of a type not commonly used as a private vehicle and unsuitable to be so used;

“electric vehicle” means a vehicle that derives its motive power exclusively from an electric motor;

“employment” means an office or employment of profit such that any emoluments (within the meaning of section 113) of the office or employment would be charged to tax, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly;

“motor-cycle” means a mechanically propelled vehicle with less than four wheels and the weight of which unladen does not exceed 410 kilograms;

“private use”, in relation to a car, means use of the car other than business use;

“relevant log book”, in relation to a person and a year of assessment, means a record maintained on a daily basis of the person’s business use for the year of assessment of a car or cars in respect of which this section applies in relation to that person for that year of assessment which –
(i)contains relevant details of distances travelled, nature and location of business transacted and amount of time spent away from the employer’s place of business, and
(ii)is certified by the employer as being to the best of the employer’s knowledge and belief true and accurate.

(b)For the purposes of this section –

(i)

(I)a car made available in any year to an employee by reason of his or her employment shall be deemed to be available in that year for his or her private use unless the terms on which the car is so made available prohibit such use and no such use is made of the car in that year:

(II)a car made available to an employee by his or her employer or by a person connected with the employer shall be deemed to be made available to him or her by reason of his or her employment (unless the employer is an individual and it can be shown that the car was made so available in the normal course of his or her domestic, family or personal relationships);

(III)a car shall be treated as available to a person and for his or her private use if it is available to –

(A)a member or members of his or her family or household,

(B)his or her civil partner,

(C)a member or members of the family or household of his or her civil partner,

(D)any spouse or civil partner of a child of the person, or

(E)any spouse or civil partner of a child of the civil partner of the person;

(IV)references to a person’s family or household are references to the person’s spouse, sons and daughters and their spouses, parents and servants, dependants and guests;

(ii)in relation to a car in respect of which this section applies, expenditure in respect of any costs borne by a person connected with the employer shall be treated as borne by the employer;

(iii)the original market value of a car shall be the price (including any duty of customs, duty of excise or value-added tax chargeable on the car) which the car might reasonably have been expected to fetch if sold in the State singly in a retail sale in the open market immediately before the date of its first registration in the State under section 6 of the Roads Act, 1920, or under corresponding earlier legislation, or else-where under the corresponding legislation of any country or territory.

(2)

(a)In relation to a person chargeable to tax in respect of an employment, this section shall apply for a year of assessment in relation to a car which, by reason of the employment, is made available (without a transfer of the property in it) to the person and is available for his or her private use in that year.

(b)In relation to a car in respect of which this section applies for a year of assessment –

(i)Chapter 3 of this Part shall not apply for that year in relation to the expense incurred in connection with the provision of the car,

(ii)there shall be treated for that year as emoluments of the employment by reason of which the car is made available, and accordingly chargeable to income tax, the amount, if any, by which the cash equivalent of the benefit of the car for the year exceeds the aggregate for the year of the amount which the employee is required to make good and actually makes good to the employer in respect of any part of the costs of providing or running the car,

(iii)notwithstanding subparagraph (ii), no amount shall be treated as emoluments of the employment where the car provided is –

(I)an electric vehicle, and

(II)provided during the period 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018,

(iv)notwithstanding subparagraph (ii), where a car made available during the period 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2022 is an electric vehicle and the original market value of the car does not exceed €50,000, no amount shall be treated as emoluments of the employment,

(v)notwithstanding subparagraph (ii), where –

(I)a car made available to an employee during the period 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2020 is an electric vehicle,

(II)the original market value of the car exceeds €50,000, and

(III)the car was first made available to the employee during the period 10 October 2017 to 9 October 2018,

no amount shall be treated as emoluments of the employment, and

(vi)where a car made available during the period 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2022 is an electric vehicle and the original market value of the car exceeds €50,000, the cash equivalent of the benefit of the car ascertained under subsection (3)(a) or (4)(a), as the case may be, shall be computed on the original market value of the car reduced by €50,000.

(3)

(a)The cash equivalent of the benefit of a car for a year of assessment shall be 30 per cent of the original market value of the car.

(b)Where a car in respect of which this section applies in relation to a person for a year of assessment is made available to the person for part only of that year, the cash equivalent of the benefit of that car as respects that person for that year shall be an amount which bears to the full amount of the cash equivalent of the car for that year (ascertained under paragraph (a)) the same proportion as that part of the year bears to that year.

(c)This subsection is subject to subsection (4A) for the year of assessment 2023 and subsequent years.

(4)

(a)Where in relation to a person the business mileage for a year of assessment exceeds 24,000 kilometres the cash equivalent of the benefit of the car for that year, instead of being the amount ascertained under subsection (3) shall be the percentage of the original market value of the car applicable to the business mileage under the Table to this subsection.

(b)In the Table to this subsection, any percentage shown in column (3) shall be that applicable to any business mileage for a year of assessment which –

(i)exceeds the lower limit shown in column (1), and

(ii)does not exceed the upper limit (if any) shown in column (2),

opposite the mention of that percentage in column (3).

Table

Business Mileage

Percentage of original market value

lower limit

upper limit

(1)

(2)

(3)

kilometres

per cent

24,000

32,000

40,000

48,000

—

(c)Where a car in respect of which this section applies in relation to a person for a year of assessment is made available to the person for part only of that year, the cash equivalent of the benefit of that car as respects that person for that year shall be an amount determined by applying paragraph (a) as if –

(i)the figure 24,000 referred to in that paragraph were replaced by a figure (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘new figure’) determined by the formula –

24,000 × A.
365

where –

Ais the number of days in the part of the year, and

(ii)each figure in columns (1), (2) and (3) of the Table to this subsection were reduced in the same proportion as the new figure bears to 24,000.

(d)This subsection is subject to subsection (4A) for the year of assessment 2023 and subsequent years.

(4A)

(a)For the year of assessment 2023 and subsequent years, the cash equivalent of the benefit of a car shall be an amount determined by the formula –

Original market value x A

where –

A is a percentage, based on vehicle categories as set out in Table B to this subsection, determined in accordance with column (3), (4), (5), (6) or (7), as the case may be, of Table A to this subsection.

(aa)Notwithstanding paragraph (a), where a car in respect of which this subsection applies is an electric vehicle, the cash equivalent of the benefit of the car ascertained under paragraph (a) shall be computed on the original market value of the car reduced by:

(i)subject to paragraph (ab), €35,000 in respect of a car made available in the period 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023;

(ii)subject to paragraph (ab), €35,000 in respect of a car made available in the period 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024;

(iii)€35,000 in respect of a car made available in the period 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025;

(iv)€20,000 in respect of a car made available in the period 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026;

(v)€10,000 in respect of a car made available in the period 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2027.

(ab)Notwithstanding paragraph (a), the cash equivalent of the benefit of a car ascertained under paragraph (a), for the years of assessment 2023 and 2024, shall –

(i)where subparagraph (i) or (ii), as the case may be, of paragraph (aa) applies, be computed on the original market value of the car reduced by –

(I)the amount specified in subparagraph (i) or (ii), as the case may be, of paragraph (aa), and

(II)€10,000,

and

(ii)where subparagraph (ab)(i) does not apply, for the vehicle categories A, B, C and D set out in column (1) of Table B to this 25 subsection, be computed on the original market value of the car reduced by €10,000.

(b)In Table A to this subsection, any percentage shown in column (3), (4), (5), (6) or (7), as the case may be, shall be the percentage applicable to any business mileage for a year of assessment which –

(i)exceeds the lower limit (if any) shown in column (1), and

(ii)does not exceed the upper limit (if any) shown in column (2),

opposite the mention of that percentage in column (3), (4), (5), (6) or (7), as the case may be.

(ba)For the years of assessment 2023 and 2024, Table A to this subsection shall apply as if –

(i)the lower limit of “52,001” shown in column (1) were replaced by “48,001”, and

(ii)the upper limit of “52,000” shown in column (2) were replaced by “48,000”.

(d)For the purposes of this section, the vehicle categories set out in column (1) of Table B to this subsection refer to a car whose CO2 emissions, determined by virtue of section 130 of Finance Act 1992, are set out in the corresponding entry in column (2) of Table B to this subsection.

TABLE A

Business mileage

Vehicle Categories

lower limit (1)

upper limit (2)

A (3)

B (4)

C (5)

D (6)

E (7)

kilometres

per cent

—

26,000

22.5

26.25

33.75

37.5

26,001

39,000

39,001

52,000

13.5

15.75

20.25

22.5

52,001

—

10.5

13.5

TABLE B

Vehicle Category

(1)

CO2 Emissions (CO2 g/km)

(2)

0g/km up to and including 59g/km

More than 59g/km up to and including 99g/km

More than 99g/km up to and including 139g/km

More than 139g/km up to and including 179g/km

More than 179g/km

(5)

(a)Where for a year of assessment –

(i)a person, in the performance of the duties of his or her employment, spends 70 per cent or more of his or her time engaged on such duties away from the place of business of his or her employer, and

(ii)in relation to that person, the business mileage exceeds 8,000 kilometres,

then, if the person so elects in writing to the inspector, the cash equivalent of the benefit of the car for that year of assessment in relation to the person shall, instead of being the amount ascertained under subsection (3) or (4), as may otherwise be appropriate, be 80 per cent of the amount ascertained under subsection (3).

(aa)[deleted]

(b)When requested in writing by the inspector, a person who makes an election under paragraph (a) for a year of assessment shall within 30 days of the date of such request furnish to the inspector a relevant log book in relation to that year of assessment.

(c)This subsection shall not apply as respects a year of assessment where –

(i)when requested to do so, a person fails to deliver to the inspector within the time specified in paragraph (b) a relevant log book in relation to that year of assessment, or

(ii)the time spent by a person in the performance of the duties of his or her employment in that year of assessment is on average less than 20 hours per week.

(d)Subsection (7)(e) shall apply for the purposes of this subsection as it applies for the purposes of subsection (7).

(e)Where a person makes an election under paragraph (a) for a year of assessment, such person shall retain the relevant log book in relation to that year of assessment for a period of 6 years after that end of that year or for such shorter period as the inspector may authorise in writing.

(6)

(a)Where any amount is to be treated as emoluments of an employment under subsection (2)(b)(ii) for a year of assessment, it shall be the duty of the person who is chargeable to tax in respect of that amount to deliver in writing to the inspector, not later than 30 days after the end of that year of assessment, particulars of the car, of its original market value and of the business mileage and private mileage for that year of assessment.

(b)Where in relation to a year of assessment –

(i)a person makes default in the delivery of particulars in relation to –

(I)the original market value of a car in respect of which this section applies in relation to him or her,

(II)his or her business mileage for the year, or

(III)his or her private mileage for the year,

(ii)the inspector is not satisfied with the particulars which have been delivered by the person,

then, the original market value or business mileage or private mileage which is to be taken into account for the purpose of computing the amount of the tax to which that person is to be charged shall be such value or mileage, as the case may be, as according to the best of the inspector’s judgment ought to be so taken into account and, in the absence of sufficient evidence to the contrary, the business mileage for a year of assessment in relation to a person shall be determined by deducting 8,000 from the total number of kilometres travelled in that year by that person in a car or cars in respect of which this section applies in relation to that person.

(bb)[deleted]

(c)[deleted]

(d)A value or mileage taken into account under paragraph (b) may be amended by the Appeal Commissioners in determining an appeal against an assessment in respect of the employment in the performance of the duties of which the business mileage is done.

(7)

(a)This subsection shall apply to any car in the case of which the inspector is satisfied (whether on a claim under this subsection or otherwise) that it has for any year been included in a car pool for the use of the employees of one or more employers.

(b)A car shall be treated as having been so included for a year if –

(i)in that year the car was made available to and actually used by more than one of those employees and in the case of each of them was made available to him or her by reason of his or her employment but was not in that year ordinarily used by any one of them to the exclusion of the others,

(ii)in the case of each of them, any private use of the car made by him or her in that year was merely incidental to his or her other use of the car in the year, and

(iii)the car was in that year not normally kept overnight on or in the vicinity of any residential premises where any of the employees was residing, except while being kept overnight on premises occupied by the person making the car available to them.

(c)Where this subsection applies to a car, the car shall be treated under this section as not having been available for the private use of any of the employees for the year in question.

(d)A claim under this subsection in respect of a car for any year may be made by any one of the employees mentioned in paragraph (b)(i) (they being referred to in paragraph (e) as “the employees concerned”) or by the employer on behalf of all of them.

(e)

(i)An employer aggrieved by a decision of the inspector that a car has not been included in a car pool for the use of the employees of one or more employers may appeal the decision to the Appeal Commissioners, in accordance with section 949I, within the period of 2 months after the date of the notice of that decision.

(ii)[deleted]

(iii)On an appeal against the decision of the inspector on a claim under this section all the employees concerned may take part in the proceedings, and the determination of the Appeal Commissioners shall be binding on all those employees, whether or not they have taken part in the proceedings.

(iv)Where an appeal against the decision of the inspector on a claim under this subsection has been determined, no appeal against the inspector’s decision on any other such claim in respect of the same car while in the same car pool and the same year shall be entertained.

121A.

Benefit of use of van.

(1)In this section –

‘electric vehicle’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 121;

‘gross vehicle weight’, in relation to a vehicle, means the weight which the vehicle is designed or adapted not to exceed when in normal use and travelling on the road laden.

‘van’ means a mechanically propelled road vehicle which –

(a)is designed or constructed solely or mainly for the carriage of goods or other burden,

(b)has a roofed area or areas to the rear of the driver’s seat,

(c)has no side windows or seating fitted in that roofed area or areas, and

(d)has a gross vehicle weight not exceeding 3,500 kilograms.

(2)

(a)In relation to a person chargeable to tax in respect of an employment, this section shall apply for a year of assessment in relation to a van which, by reason of the employment, is made available (without a transfer of the property in it) to the person and is available for his or her private use in that year.

(b)In relation to a van in respect of which this section applies for a year of assessment –

(i)Chapter 3 of this Part shall not apply for that year in relation to the expense incurred in connection with the provision of the van,

(ii)there shall be treated for that year as emoluments of the employment by reason of which the van is made available, and accordingly chargeable to income tax, the amount, if any, by which the cash equivalent of the benefit of the van for the year exceeds the aggregate for the year of the amounts which the employee is required to make good and actually makes good to the employer in respect of any part of the costs of providing or running the van,

(iii)notwithstanding subparagraph (ii), no amount shall be treated as emoluments of the employment where the van provided is –

(I)an electric vehicle, and

(II)provided during the period 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018,

(iv)notwithstanding subparagraph (ii), where a van made available during the period 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2022 is an electric vehicle and the original market value of the van does not exceed €50,000, no amount shall be treated as emoluments of the employment,

(v)notwithstanding subparagraph (ii), where –

(I)a van made available to an employee during the period 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2020 is an electric vehicle,

(II)the original market value of the van exceeds €50,000, and

(III)the van was first made available to the employee during the period 10 October 2017 to 9 October 2018, no amount shall be treated as emoluments of the employment,

(vi)where a van made available during the period 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2022 is an electric vehicle and the original market value of the van exceeds €50,000, the cash equivalent of the benefit of the van ascertained under subsection (3) shall be computed on the original market value of the van reduced by €50,000,

(vii)where a van is an electric vehicle, the cash equivalent of the benefit of the van ascertained under subsection (3) shall be computed on the original market value of the van reduced by:

(I)subject to subparagraph (viii), €35,000 in respect of a van made available in the period 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023;

(II)subject to subparagraph (viii), €35,000 in respect of a van made available in the period 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024;

(III)€35,000 in respect of a van made available in the period 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025;

(IV)€20,000 in respect of a van made available in the period 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026;

(V)€10,000 in respect of a van made available in the period 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2027, and

(viii)the cash equivalent of the benefit of a van ascertained under subsection (3), for the years of assessment 2023 and 2024, shall –

(I)where clause (I) or (II), as the case may be, of subparagraph (vii) applies, be computed on the original market value of the van reduced by –

(A)the amount specified in clause (I) or (II), as the case may be, of subparagraph (vii), and

(B)€10,000,

and

(II)in any other case, be computed on the original market value of the van reduced by €10,000.”.

(2A)Subsection (2) shall not apply for a year of assessment in respect of the private use of a van made available to a person (in this subsection referred to as the ’employee’) as set out in that subsection where the following conditions are met –

(a)the van made available to the employee is necessary for the performance of the duties of the employee’s employment,

(b)the employee is required by the person who made the van available to keep it, when not in use in the performance of the duties of the employee’s employment, at or in the vicinity of the employee’s private residence,

(c)apart from travel between the employee’s private residence and workplace, other private use of the van is prohibited by the person making the van available and there is no such other private use, and

(d)in the performance of the duties of his or her employment, the employee spends at least 80 per cent of his or her time engaged on such duties away from the premises of the employer to which the employee is attached.

(3)The cash equivalent of the benefit of a van –

(a)for a year of assessment, other than a year of assessment referred to in paragraph (b), shall be 5 per cent of the original market value of the van, and

(b)for the year of assessment 2023 and subsequent years of assessment, shall be 8 per cent of the original market value of the van.

(4)The provisions of subsections (1) (other than the definition of car in paragraph (a)), (6) and (7) of section 121 shall apply, with any necessary modifications in relation to a van, for the purposes of this section as they apply in relation to a car for the purposes of that section.

(5)Where a van in respect of which this section applies in relation to a person for a year of assessment is made available to the person for part only of that year, the cash equivalent of the benefit of that van as respects that person for that year shall be an amount which bears to the full amount of the cash equivalent of the van for that year (ascertained under subsection (3)) the same proportion as that part of the year bears to that year.

122.

Preferential loan arrangements.

(1)

(a)In this section –

“employee”, in relation to an employer, means an individual employed by the employer in an employment –
(a)to which Chapter 3 of this Part applies, or
(b)the profits or gains of which are chargeable to tax under Case III of Schedule D
including, in a case where the employer is a body corporate, a director (within the meaning of that Chapter) of the body corporate;

“employer”, in relation to an individual, means –
(i)a person of whom the individual or the spouse or civil partner of the individual is or was an employee
(ii)a person of whom the individual becomes an employee subsequent to the making of a loan by the person to the individual, and while any part of the loan, or of another loan replacing it, is outstanding, or
(iii)a person connected with a person referred to in paragraph (i) or (ii);

“loan” includes any form of credit, and references to a loan include references to any other loan applied directly or indirectly towards the replacement of another loan;

“preferential loan” means, in relation to an individual, a loan, in respect of which no interest is paid or interest is paid at a preferential rate, made directly or indirectly to the individual or to the spouse or civil partner of the individual by a person who in relation to the individual or the spouse or civil partner is an employer, but does not include any such loan in respect of which interest is paid at a rate that is not less than the rate of interest at which the employer in the course of the employer’s trade makes equivalent loans for similar purposes at arm’s length to persons other than employees or their spouses or civil partners;

“preferential rate” means a rate less than the specified rate;

“qualifying loan” has the meaning assigned to it by section 244(1)(a);

“the specified rate”, in relation to a preferential loan, means –
(i)in a case where the preferential loan is a qualifying loan, the rate of 4 per cent per annum or such other rate (if any) prescribed by the Minister for Finance by regulations,
(ii)in a case where –
(I)the preferential loan is made to an employee by an employer,
(II)the making of loans for the purposes of purchasing a dwelling house for occupation by the borrower as a residence, for a stated term of years at a rate of interest which does not vary for the duration of the loan, forms part of the trade of the employer, and
(III)the rate of interest at which, in the course of the employer’s trade at the time the preferential loan is or was made, the employer makes or made loans at arm’s length to persons, other than employees, for the purposes of purchasing a dwelling house for occupation by the borrower as a residence is less than 4 per cent per annum or such other rate (if any) prescribed by the Minister for Finance by regulations,
the first-mentioned rate in subparagraph (III), or
(iii)in any other case, the rate of 13.5 per cent per annum or such other rate (if any) prescribed by the Minister for Finance by regulations.

(b)For the purposes of this section, a person shall be regarded as connected with another person if such person would be so regarded for the purposes of section 250.

(c)In this section, a reference to a loan being made by a person includes a reference to a person assuming the rights and liabilities of the person who originally made the loan and to a person arranging, guaranteeing or in any way facilitating a loan or the continuation of a loan already in existence.

(2)Where, for the whole or part of a year of assessment, there is outstanding, in relation to an individual, a preferential loan, the individual shall, subject to subsection (4), be treated for the purpose of section 112 or a charge to tax under Case III of Schedule D, as having received in that year of assessment, as a perquisite of the office or employment with the employer who made the loan, a sum equal to the difference between the aggregate amount of interest paid in that year and the amount of interest which would have been payable in that year, if interest had been payable on the loan at the specified rate and the individual or, in the case of an individual –

(a)who is a wife or husband whose spouse is chargeable to tax for the year of assessment in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 1 of Part 44, the spouse of the individual, or

(b)who is a civil partner whose civil partner is chargeable to tax for the year of assessment in accordance with the provisions of section 1031C, the civil partner of the individual,

shall be charged to tax accordingly.

(3)Where an individual has a loan made to him or her directly or indirectly in any year of assessment by a person who at the time the loan is made is, or who at a time subsequent to the making of the loan becomes, an employer in relation to the individual and the loan or any interest payable on the loan is released or written off in whole or in part –

(a)the individual shall be deemed for the purposes of section 112 or, in a case where profits or gains from an employment with that person would be chargeable to tax under Case Ill of Schedule D, for the purposes of a charge to tax under that Case to have received in the year of assessment in which the release or writing off took place as a perquisite of an office or employment with that person a sum equal to the amount which is released or written off, and

(b)the individual or, in the case of an individual –

(i)whose spouse is chargeable to tax for the year of assessment in accordance with section 1017, the spouse of the individual, or

(ii)whose civil partner is chargeable to tax for the year of assessment in accordance with section 1031C, that civil partner,

shall be charged to tax accordingly

(4)Where for any year of assessment a sum is chargeable to tax under subsection (2) in respect of a preferential loan or loans or under subsection (3) in respect of an amount of interest written off or released, the individual to whom the loan or loans was or were made shall be deemed for the purposes of section 244 to have paid in the year of assessment an amount or additional amount of interest, as the case may be, on the loan or loans equal to such sum or the individual by whom the interest written off or released was payable shall be deemed for those purposes to have paid in the year of assessment the interest released or written off.

(5)This section shall not apply to a loan made by an employer, being an individual, and shown to have been made in the normal course of his or her domestic, family or personal relationships.

(6)Any amount chargeable to tax by virtue of this section shall not be emoluments for the purpose of section 472.

(7)Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next 21 days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

122A.

Notional loans relating to shares, etc.

(1)In this section –

‘acquisition’, in relation to shares, includes receipt by way of allotment or assignment;

‘connected person’ has the same meaning as in section 10;

’emoluments’ has the same meaning as in section 113;

’employee’ and ’employer’ have the same meanings, respectively, assigned to them by section 122;

’employment’ has the same meaning as in section 121;

‘market value’ shall be construed in accordance with section 548;

‘preferential loan’ has the same meaning as in section 122;

‘shares’ includes securities within the meaning of section 135 and stock.

(2)Where an employee, or a person connected with him or her, acquires shares in a company (whether the employing company or not) and those shares are acquired at an under-value in pursuance of a right or opportunity available by reason of his or her employment, he or she shall be deemed to have the benefit of a loan on which no interest is payable (in this section referred to as the ‘notional loan’) made directly or indirectly to him or her by a person who at the time the loan is made is, or who at a time subsequent to the making of the loan becomes, an employer in relation to the individual and such notional loan shall be deemed to be a preferential loan to which section 122 applies.

(3)This section shall apply, subject to Chapter 1 of Part 17, for a year of assessment in which an individual has, in accordance with subsection (2), a notional loan and in this section –

(a)references to shares being acquired at an under-value are references to shares being acquired either without payment for them at the time or being acquired for an amount then paid which is less than the market value of fully paid-up shares of that class (in either case with or without obligation to make payment or further payment at some later time), and

(b)any reference, in relation to any shares, to the under-value on acquisition is a reference to the market value of fully paid-up shares of that class less any payment then made for the shares.

(4)The amount initially outstanding of the notional loan shall be so much of the under-value on acquisition as is not chargeable to tax as an emolument of the employee, and –

(a)the loan shall remain outstanding until terminated under subsection (5), and

(b)payments or further payments made for the shares after the initial acquisition shall go to reduce the amount outstanding of the notional loan.

(5)The notional loan shall terminate on the occurrence of any of the following events –

(a)the whole amount of it outstanding is made good by means of payments or further payments made for the shares;

(b)the case being one in which the shares were not at the time of acquisition fully paid up, any outstanding or contingent obligation to pay for them is released, transferred or adjusted so as no longer to bind the employee or any person connected with him or her;

(c)the shares are so disposed of by surrender or otherwise that neither he nor she nor any such person any longer has a beneficial interest in the shares;

(d)the employee dies.

(6)If the notional loan terminates in a manner referred to in subsection (5)(b) or (c), the provisions of section 122(3) shall apply as if an amount equal to the then outstanding amount of the notional loan had been released or written off from a loan within that section.

(7)Where shares are acquired, whether or not at an under-value but otherwise as mentioned in subsection (2), and –

(a)the shares are subsequently disposed of by surrender or otherwise so that neither the employee nor any person connected with him or her any longer has a beneficial interest in them, and

(b)the disposal is for a consideration which exceeds the then market value of the shares,

then, for the year in which the disposal is effected, the outstanding amount of the excess shall be treated as emoluments of the employee’s employment and accordingly chargeable to income tax under Schedule D or Schedule E.

(8)If at the time of the event giving rise to a charge by virtue of subsection (6) the employment in question has terminated, that subsection shall apply as if it had not.

(9)No charge arises under subsection (6) by reference to any disposal effected after the death of the employee, whether by his or her personal representatives or otherwise.

(10)This section applies in relation to acquisition and disposal of an interest in shares less than full beneficial ownership (including an interest in the proceeds of sale of part of the shares but not including a share option) as it applies in relation to the acquisition and disposal of shares, subject to the following:

(a)reference to the shares acquired shall be construed as reference to the interest in shares acquired,

(b)reference to the market value of the shares acquired shall be construed as reference to the proportion corresponding to the size of the interest of the market value of the shares in which the interest subsists,

(c)reference to shares of the same class as those acquired shall be construed as reference to shares of the same class as those in which the interest subsists,

(d)reference to the market value of fully paid-up shares of that class shall be construed as reference to the proportion of that value corresponding to the size of the interest.

(11)In this section, any reference to payment for shares includes giving any consideration in money or money’s worth or making any subscription, whether in pursuance of a legal liability or not.

Employee Benefits I

TAXES CONSOLIDATION ACT

Part 5 Principal Provisions Relating to the Schedule E Charge (ss. 112-128F)

Basis of assessment, persons chargeable and extent of charge.

Taxation of certain perquisites.

Taxation of certain perquisites: employees of authorised insurers and tied health insurance agents.

Granting of vouchers.

Making of deductions.

General rule as to deductions.

Deduction in respect of certain expenses of remote working.

Fixed deduction for certain classes of persons.

Expenses allowances and provisions relating to the general benefits in kind charge (ss. 116-120B)

Interpretation (Chapter 3).

Expenses allowances.

Benefits in kind: general charging provision.

Costs and expenses in respect of personal security assets and services.

Revenue approved salary sacrifice agreements.

Valuation of benefits in kind.

Unincorporated bodies, partnerships and individuals.

Exemption from benefit-in-kind of certain childcare facilities.

Certain benefits in kind: members of Permanent Defence Force.

Other benefit in kind charges (ss. 121-122A)

Benefit of use of car.

Benefit of use of van.

Preferential loan arrangements.

Notional loans relating to shares, etc.

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