Finance Act 2015

Granting of vouchers

11. (1) The Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after section 112A:

“112B. (1) In this section—

‘benefit’ means a tangible asset other than cash;

‘qualifying incentive’ means either a voucher or a benefit that is given to an employee by his or her employer in a year of assessment where the following conditions are satisfied:

(a) the voucher or the benefit does not form part of a salary sacrifice arrangement;

(b) the voucher can only be used to purchase goods or services and cannot be redeemed, in full or in part, for cash;

(c) the voucher or the benefit cannot exceed €500 in value;

(d) not more than one voucher or benefit can be given to that employee in any year of assessment;

‘salary sacrifice arrangement’ means any arrangement under which an employee forgoes the right to receive any part of his or her remuneration due under his or her terms or contract of employment and in return his or her employer agrees to provide him or her with a qualifying incentive.

(2) A qualifying incentive shall be exempt from income tax and shall not be reckoned in computing income for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts.”.

(2) Subsection (1) comes into operation on 22 October 2015.