Tax concessions for Irish circuses
Deasy sought tax relief to help circuses meet rising costs and argued circus artists should qualify for the artists’ income-tax exemption. Colley said the exemption covers permanent works of art, not performances, and that broader tax concessions must be considered in the budgetary context.
asked the Minister for Finance the action, if any, it is intended to take to safeguard the future of Irish circuses; and if he will consider allowing tax concessions to the circuses to help offset huge increases in running costs.
Comment on this
The financial problems of circuses would not seem likely to be of fiscal origin.
There would be obvious difficulties in the way of concessions involving specially favourable tax treatment.
Apart from those aspects, questions of tax concessions for any purpose are matters for consideration in the budgetary context.
Comment on this
Would the Minister not regard the circus artists as being entitled to income tax relief just as much as writers, musicians, sculptors or any other of these categories which are exempt at present? Surely they are artists in every sense. Why can they not be exempted?
Comment on this
If the Deputy thinks about that exemption he will realise that the exemption applies in respect of permanent and not ephemeral works of art. It does not apply, for instance, to actors whose performance may be very artistic but where there is no record of it. The same would apply to circus artists.