Finance Act 2008

Amendment of section 201 (exemptions and reliefs in respect of tax under section 123) of Principal Act.

22.— (1) Section 201 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following subsection after subsection (1)—

“(1A) (a) In this subsection—

‘eligible employee’ means an employee, being a person who is being made redundant, who, in relation to a full-time employment, has completed at least 2 years continuous service in that employment or is, for the purposes of the law relating to redundancy, deemed to have at least 2 years continuous service;

‘retraining’ means a training course, made available by an employer as part of a redundancy package, that is—

(i) designed to impart or improve skills or knowledge relevant to, or intended to be used in, obtaining gainful employment or in the setting up of a business,

(ii) primarily devoted to the teaching or practical application of such skills or knowledge, and

(iii) completed within 6 months of the termination of employment;

‘redundancy package’, in relation to an eligible employee, means any scheme of compensation offered to the employee on termination of his or her employment.

(b) Income tax shall not be charged by virtue of section 123 in respect of the first €5,000 of the cost of retraining an eligible employee where—

(i) such training forms part of his or her redundancy package, and

(ii) the employer makes available such retraining for all eligible employees.

(c) Paragraph (b) does not apply to any retraining provided to either or both the spouse and any dependant of the employer.

(d) Paragraph (b) does not apply to an eligible employee where there is an arrangement or scheme in place whereby an employee may receive the cost of retraining in money or money’s worth, wholly or partly, directly or indirectly, and such employee so receives that cost.”.

(2) Subsection (1) has effect as respects retraining within the meaning of section 201(1A) of the Principal Act (as inserted by this section) made available on or after the passing of this Act.