Dublin schools benefit most from tax refund scheme on donations

Seven schools in Dublin have received more than €300,000 in tax reliefs, figures supplied by the Revenue Commissioners show.

The schools, which cannot be identified, received the money as part of a charitable donations scheme begun by Ruairí Quinn when Minister for Finance in 1997. Under that plan, PAYE tax paid on donations over €250 is returned to the school.

Nearly €1.4 million in reliefs was given to 140 schools throughout the Republic, but the bulk of the schools obtaining the largest tax breaks are in the Dublin area.

Voluntary donations
The figures show that 77 Dublin schools received more than €1.5 million in voluntary donations under the tax relief scheme. As a result, nearly €933,000 was refunded from the Revenue. The comparable figures for 63 schools elsewhere in the State is just €436,000 in refunds.

Of the 77 Dublin schools using the tax breaks scheme, seven institutions collectively benefited by just over €337,000. Just three schools outside Dublin made it into the top 10 refunds list, totalling €119,000.

The Revenue has told The Irish Times that the charitable donations scheme is also open to a range of eligible charities and other "approved bodies".

PAYE taxpayers
The statistics relate only to PAYE taxpayers and do not include donations from self-assessed tax papers. Revenue figures also indicate that the totals received by schools under the scheme has dropped.

The statistics relate to 2012, the last year for which figures are available. Some €1.9 million was refunded the previous year, perhaps reflecting the impact of recession.

Amendments were proposed in the last budget which the Revenue believes will be “Exchequer neutral” but some education bodies believe will lead to a further drop.