Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North West, Aindrias Moynihan has called on the Minister for Finance to urgently review the current 10% e-working tax relief rate for employees while working from home, as some employers are currently not passing on the discretionary benefits.
Deputy Moynihan, in a Dáil question to the Minister, commented, “The current rate of tax relief is simply not enough to offset an employee’s expenses, such as heating, electricity or internet, while working from home.
“As a comparison, if an employer makes payments of €3.20 per day (which is at their discretion, in line with a Revenue arrangement) to such employees, they could avail of around €832 per year.
“If the employer does not agree to make these payments though, then the employee can only claim the current rate of tax relief through Revenue, however this can sometimes work out at as little as €200 per annum. That is a huge disparity.
“I am calling on the minister to review this rate so that employees working from home in this instance are not left behind in comparison.”
Deputy Moynihan welcomed the statement from the Minister of Finance that the national remote working strategy: Making Remote Work, is committing the Tax Strategy Group to reviewing the current tax arrangements for remote working in respect of both employees and employers.
The Tax Strategy Group will take account of the economic, financial and organisational implications arising from the experience of remote working during the pandemic and assess the merits of further enhancements for consideration in the context of Budget 2022.