Donohoe against extending sports tax relief to GAA players
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said that extending a tax relief scheme for sports people to GAA players “would raise a number of issues and challenges”.
In a written Dáil reply, Minister Donohoe said the current tax relief scheme for sports people cost the State €2.4m between 2008 and 2017. In the reply to Fianna Fáil TD Marc MacSharry, Minister Donohoe said during that period, 323 sports people have claimed tax relief.
The scheme allows sports people claim tax relief on earnings which derive directly from participation in the sport concerned, such as prize money and performance fees, but not other earnings such as sponsorship fees and income from advertisements or endorsements.
Those who avail of the scheme include rugby players, golfers, jockeys. cyclists, swimmers, boxers and athletes.
Asked by Deputy MacSharry had he considered extending the scheme to GAA players, Minister Donohoe stated that an “extension of the tax relief to Gaelic games players would raise a number of issues and challenges”.
"Given the amateur status of the players, income from sources not related to the playing of Gaelic games might need to be taken into account. This would have implications for the tax system that would need to be carefully examined," he said.
