Sports Stars To Benefit From Tax Break In Ireland

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

11 February 2002

Sports men and women received a pleasant surprise in Charlie McCreevy's final Finance Bill on Thursday, when it was revealed that they are to benefit from a significant tax break.

The provision will apply to many categories of sports personalities including athletes, boxers, cyclists, soccer players, golfers, rugby players, swimmers and tennis players, who will be permitted to claim 40% back on their sports based gross earnings over a 10 year period. However, they must be tax resident in Ireland throughout the 10 year period to benefit, and the relief will not apply to earnings from sponsorship deals and promotional activities.

The Finance Minister commented last week that the measure was a tangible way of rewarding sports men and women for 'the prestige they bring to Ireland,' and promised that the measure would not place a large burden on government funds.

However, Mr McCreevy's announcement was met with criticism from interest groups representing the country's poorest taxpayers, who argued that the government's priority in this Finance Bill should have been to take those on the minimum wage out of the tax bracket.

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