Clare Independent Deputy Michael McNamara has requested the Government to enable employers to provide a €1,000 Covid bonus to qualifying employees without them or their employees incurring a tax liability.
The recently announced, tax-free Covid bonus applies only to frontline public healthcare workers, but Deputy McNamara argues that a significant number of healthcare workers in Clare communities who delivered frontline services during the pandemic should also be able to be rewarded for their efforts by their employers.
The Clare TD raised the matter in the Dáil today with Tánaiste Leo Varadkar who confirmed that the possibility of increasing the exemption to current bonus rules for workers so that up to €1,000 can be given tax-free, rather than the current amount of €500, is being examined.
Deputy McNamara stated, “I have been contacted by community-based healthcare providers who would be keen to provide a bonus but have stressed that this would currently result in a significant tax liability for the employer and employees.”
“I look forward to the outcome of the Government’s deliberation on the current exemption limit so as to enable employers looking to pay a tax free Covid bonus to their qualifying employees to do so,” he concluded.