Finance Bill 2011

7th February 2011
As the Finance Act has passed into law there are a few amendments/clarifications which we wish to make you aware of:

• Bringing forward of the income tax deadline to 30th September has been shelved as oppose to what was announced previously by the government in the budget speech and our posting below dated 21st January 2011
• A 10% rate of universal social charge will be levied on any income above €100,000 for the self-employed.
• Medical card holders or those aged over 70 will not be liable to the universal social charge at a rate higher than 4%.
• Rent tax credits have been reduced by 20% in 2011.

21st January 2011

The Finance Bill giving legal effect to the changes announced in Budget 2011 was published today.

In addition, the following items were also included/modified/further details given since Budget Day 2011:

Personal Taxation
• Rent relief will not be available for those who would not have been entitled to the relief in 2010.
• A ceiling of €40,000 is being introduced on the tax exempt income of artists.
• Restrictions on Section 23 relief will not be introduced until at least two months after the publication of an impact assessment of the proposed changes. This effectively defers the restrictions until 2012.
• Student Services charge of €1,500 being replaced by Student Contribution Charge of €2,000. In addition, first €2,000 per claim would be ineligible for tax relief (i.e. first child in full-time education not allowed tax relief).
• Private Medical Insurance Age Related Credit – Abolished for those under 60, for those over 60 relief increased to 65% of additional cost of healthcare.

Miscellaneous
• Income tax pay and file deadline brought forward to 30th September 2011 for the tax year 2010, with an additional 14 days for ROS filings. Personal pension contributions for relief on the 2010 return must also be made by these dates.

Whilst every care has been taken in the production of this summary, neither Royal Canal Financial Control Services nor Ronan Duffy and Co. can be held responsible for any action taken or deferred, resulting from any errors contained therein. For a more comprehensive summary please refer to the government press release.