472A Relief for the long-term unemployed.

(1) (a) In this section—

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^[17]>“the Act of 1993” means the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993;^<[17][17]>“the Act of 2005” means the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005;^<[17]

“continuous period of unemployment” has the meaning assigned in ^[18]>section 120(3) of the Act of 1993;^<[18][18]>section 141(3) of the Act of 2005;^<[18]

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“director” and “proprietary director” have the same meanings, respectively, as in section 472;

“emoluments” has the same meaning as in subsection (1)(a) of section 472 and, in relation to the exclusions from that definition, subsection (2) of that section shall apply accordingly;

“employment” means an office or employment of profit such that any emoluments of the office or employment of profit are to be charged to tax under Schedule E;

“employment scheme” means a scheme or programme which provides for the payment in respect of an employment to an employer or an employee of a grant, subsidy or other such payment funded wholly or mainly, directly or indirectly, by the State or by any board established by statute or by any public or local authority;

“qualifying child”, in relation to a claimant and a year of assessment, has the same meaning as in section 462, and the question of whether a child is a qualifying child shall be determined on the same basis as it would be for the purposes of section 462, and ^[16]>subsections (4) and (6)^<[16][16]>subsections (4) and (5)^<[16] of that section shall apply accordingly;

“qualifying employment” means an employment which—

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(i) commences on or after the 6th day of April, 1998,

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(i) commences on or after 6 April 1998 and before such day as the Minister for Finance may by order appoint,

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(ii) is of at least 30 hours duration per week, and

(iii) is capable of lasting at least 12 months,

but does not include—

(I) an employment from which the previous holder was unfairly dismissed,

(II) an employment with a person who, in the 26 weeks immediately prior to the commencement of an employment by a qualifying individual, has reduced, by way of redundancy, the number of employees in such person's trade or profession, or

(III) an employment in respect of which more than 75 per cent of the emoluments therefrom arise from commissions;

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“qualifying individual” means an individual who commences a qualifying employment and who—

(i) (I) immediately prior to the commencement of that qualifying employment has been continuously unemployed within the meaning of section 120(3) of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993, for a period of 312 days and has been in—

(A) receipt of unemployment benefit under Chapter 9 of Part II of that Act,

(B) receipt of unemployment assistance under Chapter 2 of Part III of that Act, or

(C) receipt of one-parent family payment under Chapter 9 of Part III of that Act, or

(II) is in any other special category of persons approved of for the purposes of this section by the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs with the consent of the Minister for Finance,

and

(ii) was not previously a qualifying individual for the purposes of this section;

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“qualifying individual” means an individual who commences a qualifying employment and who—

(i) (I) immediately prior to the commencement of that qualifying employment has been unemployed throughout the period of 12 months immediately preceding the commencement of the employment ^[23]>and has, in respect of that period of unemployment, been in receipt of^<[23][23]>and, in respect of that period of unemployment, is entitled to credited contributions in accordance with section 33 of the Act of 2005 and regulations made under that section or has been in receipt of^<[23]—

(A) unemployment benefit under ^[19]>Chapter 9 of Part II of the Act of 1993,^<[19][19]>Chapter 12 of Part 2 of the Act of 2005,^<[19] in respect of a continuous period of unemployment of not less than 312 days, or

(B) unemployment assistance under ^[20]>Chapter 2 of Part III of the Act of 1993,^<[20][20]>Chapter 2 of Part 3 of the Act of 2005,^<[20] in respect of a continuous period of unemployment of not less than 312 days, or

(C) one-parent family payment under ^[21]>Chapter 9 of Part III of the Act of 1993,^<[21][21]>Chapter 7 of Part 3 of the Act of 2005,^<[21] in respect of a continuous period of unemployment of not less than 312 days, or

(II) is in any other separate category of persons approved of for the purposes of this section by the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs with the consent of the Minister for Finance,

and

(ii) was not previously a qualifying individual for the purposes of this section;

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“unemployment payment” means a payment of unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance payable under the Social Welfare Acts.

(b) For the purposes of the definition of “qualifying individual”—

(i) any period of—

(I) attendance at a non-craft training course provided or approved of by An Foras Áiseanna Saothair,

(II) participation in a programme administered by An Foras Áiseanna Saothair and known as the Community Employment Scheme,

(III) participation in a programme administered by An Foras Áiseanna Saothair and known as the Job Initiative,

(IV) participation in, or participation in or attendance at, an activity to which ^[22]>paragraph (g) or (h), respectively, of section 120(5) of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993,^<[22][22]>paragraph (h) or (i), respectively, of section 141(6) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005,^<[22] relates,

shall be deemed to be a period of unemployment for the purposes of this section, and

(ii) any payment in respect of a period of attendance at, or participation in, an activity, programme or scheme mentioned in subparagraph (i) shall be deemed to be an unemployment payment for the purposes of this section if the qualifying individual concerned was in receipt of an unemployment payment immediately prior to the commencement ^[4]>of such period.^<[4][4]>of such period, and^<[4]

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(iii) every Sunday in any period of consecutive days shall not be treated as a day of unemployment and shall be disregarded in computing any such period.

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(2) Subject to the provisions of this section, where an individual proves that he or she is a qualifying individual, he or she shall, in relation to the 3 years of assessment commencing with either—

(a) the year of assessment in which a qualifying employment commences, or

(b) by election made by him or her in writing to the inspector, the year of assessment following the year of assessment in which the qualifying employment commences,

be entitled, in computing the amount of his or her taxable income, to have a deduction made from so much of his or her total income as is attributable to emoluments from that qualifying employment as follows:

(i) for the first of those 3 years, ^[7]>£3,000^<[7][7]>€3,810^<[7],

(ii) for the second of those 3 years, ^[8]>£2,000^<[8][8]>€2,540^<[8], and

(iii) for the third of those 3 years, ^[9]>£1,000^<[9][9]>€1,270^<[9].

(3) (a) Subject to the provisions of paragraphs (b) and (c), where a qualifying individual who is entitled to a deduction under subsection (2) for one or more of the 3 years of assessment referred to in that subsection proves that, for one or more of those years, a qualifying child is resident with him or her for the whole or part of the year, he or she shall, in respect of each of the 3 years referred to in subsection (2) in relation to which he or she so proves, be entitled, in computing the amount of his or her taxable income, to have a deduction made from so much of his or her total income as is attributable to emoluments from the qualifying employment as follows:

(i) for the first of those 3 years, ^[10]>£1,000^<[10][10]>€1,270^<[10] in respect of each qualifying child,

(ii) for the second of those 3 years, ^[11]>£666^<[11][11]>€850^<[11] in respect of each qualifying child, and

(iii) for the third of those 3 years, ^[12]>£334^<[12][12]>€425^<[12] in respect of each qualifying child.

(b) Only one deduction of ^[13]>£1,000^<[13][13]>€1,270^<[13], ^[14]>£666^<[14][14]>€850^<[14] and ^[15]>£334^<[15][15]>€425^<[15] shall be allowed in respect of each qualifying child.

(c) Where for a year of assessment, 2 or more qualifying individuals would but for this paragraph be entitled under this section to relief in respect of the same qualifying child, the following provisions shall apply:

(i) the amount of the deduction to be granted for that year in respect of the qualifying child will be the amount due under paragraph (a) subject to the provisions of paragraph (b),

(ii) where the qualifying child is maintained by only one of the qualifying individuals concerned, that individual shall be entitled to claim the deduction,

(iii) where the qualifying child is maintained jointly by one or more qualifying individuals, the deduction due for the year of assessment in respect of the child shall be apportioned between the qualifying individuals who contribute to the maintenance of the child—

(I) in the same proportion as each maintains the child, or

(II) in such manner as they jointly notify in writing to the inspector;

(iv) in ascertaining for the purposes of this subsection whether a qualifying individual maintains a qualifying child, any payment made by that individual for or towards the maintenance of the child which the individual is entitled to deduct in computing his or her total income for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts shall be deemed not to be a payment for or towards the maintenance of the child.

(4) Where, within the 3 years mentioned in subsection (3), the qualifying employment (in this subsection referred to as “the first-mentioned employment”) in respect of which the qualifying individual is entitled to a deduction under subsection (2) ceases, the qualifying individual shall be entitled to have so much of the deductions mentioned in subsections (2) and (3) as cannot be set against his or her emoluments from the first-mentioned employment carried forward and set against the emoluments from his or her next, and only next, qualifying employment, but the deduction for any year of assessment to be set against the emoluments from either or both qualifying employments shall not exceed the deductions due under subsections (2) and (3) for that year.

(5) (a) The deductions mentioned in subsections (2) and (3) shall not be due if the qualifying individual, or his or her employer, is benefiting, or has benefited, in respect of the qualifying employment in respect of which a claim under this section is made, under an employment scheme, whether statutory or otherwise.

(b) For the purposes of the definition of an employment scheme, an activity, programme or course mentioned in ^[6]>subsection (2)^<[6][6]>subsection (1)(b)(i)^<[6] shall be deemed not to be an employment scheme.

(6) Any claim for relief under this section—

(a) shall be made in such form as the Revenue Commissioners may from time to time provide, and

(b) shall contain such information and be accompanied by such statement in writing as may be indicated in the said form as the Revenue Commissioners may reasonably require for the purposes of the section.

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(7) This section shall cease to have effect in respect of all claims relating to emoluments from an employment commencing on or after such day as the Minister for Finance may by order appoint.

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