Last month, Revenue published their view on the circumstances in which country money might be paid to construction workers without the operation of PAYE/PRSI.

The full text of the Country Money statement is to be found at 2.01 below.

ICAI has already advised Revenue that this statement raises more problems than it solves. It does not address practical arrangements in operation in the building industry, for example, where the employer provides transport to the remote site. The provision of transport in itself eliminates any entitlement to the tax treatment of country money, yet in many circumstances is a practical necessity. Other queries referred to us by members include:

1. Is country money basically intended to cover both motor travel AND subsistence?
2. Can country money as outlined only be paid to employees of CIF and ECA member firms or can employers working in the relevant sectors who are not members use the same guidelines?
3. Can employers elect to pay the civil service motor travel/subsistence rates instead of country money or are CIF/ECA member firms bound to pay country money only?
4. If so, can a mixture of systems (obviously not simultaneously) apply for the same employee in one tax year?
5. Is country money payable to the “professions” e.g civil engineers working in these sectors or is it intended for “trades”/operatives only?

Please contact Brian Keegan, Director of Taxation, at the Institute (brian.keegan@icai.ie) if you feel there are other practical issues arising in the construction sector which are not adequately addressed in the Revenue document. We will then raise your points with Revenue management through the TALC process.