Tax relief and credits

EMPLOYMENT: Income tax relief for trade union subscriptions should be discontinued.

The relief for benefit-in-kind and PRSI exemption for employer-provided public transport travel passes and bicycles should continue.

The income tax relief for scholarships and fees paid for training courses and third level education should continue.

The exemption from income tax of statutory redundancy payments should continue, as should the exemption from income tax for retraining on redundancy.

Continue the income tax exemption for approved profit-sharing schemes (APSSs) and remove the PRSI, health contribution levy and income levy exemptions.

The PRSI exemption for employee (unapproved) share options should be discontinued.

The tax treatment which applies to employee share ownership trusts (ESOTs) should continue.

The income tax exemption for approved share option schemes (APSOs) should be discontinued. They should also be liable to employee PRSI and levies.

Continue the income tax exemption for Save As You Earn (SAYE) schemes but remove the PRSI, health contribution levy and income levy exemptions.

The income tax exemption for new shares purchased on issue by employees should be discontinued.

The artist's exemption should be discontinued but consideration given to introducing income averaging in the taxation of income from creative work.

The sportsperson's relief should continue but under modified rules.

The seafarer's allowance should be discontinued.

Expenses of Oireachtas members should be treated in the same way under the tax code as expenses paid to employees and office holders generally.

ENTERPRISE

The restriction of balancing charges on a building to the relevant holding period for that building should be discontinued for future acquisitions.

Grants to meet revenue expenditure should be taken into account when calculating taxable trading income and capital allowances should be available on expenditure net of capital grants. However, on employment-related grants, there may be a case for postponing this approach until more favourable labour market conditions apply.

R&D: Tax credit for research and development should continue.

Patents:Tax exemption for patent royalties should be discontinued.

Film relief should be continued but should be subject to regular review

Business Expansion and Seed Capital Schemes should remain in place up to their 2013 deadline and their effectiveness reviewed in that time. The administrative burden on companies seeking to benefit from the schemes is onerous and should be reviewed.

Start-ups: The relief from tax for start-up companies should be continued but modified. A new scheme for unincorporated businesses should be established.

Venture capital: The tax treatment of venture fund managers should be modified so that they pay capital gains tax or income tax at the marginal rate dependent on whether the investment return on the carried interest represents a capital gain or income respectively.

Capital gains: The capital gains tax relief for family transfers should continue but limited to asset values up to €3 million. Where the value of the asset exceeds €3 million, only the part of the gain attributable to the excess over €3 million should be taxed. Capital gains tax relief for disposal of a business or a farm on retirement should continue.

Capital acquisitions tax: A reduction of no more than 75 per cent of the value of a business should be allowed before tax is calculated. The reduction should be subject to an overall limit of €3 million.