Income Tax Exemption for “Relevant” Directors

From January 1^st 2016 certain travel and subsistence expenses incurred by “relevant” directors have been exempted from income tax.

A “relevant” director is defined as a non-executive director of a company who is not tax resident in Ireland.

In order to meet the exemption criteria the expenses must be incurred solely for the purpose of attending a meeting of the company where the director:

1. is attending in their capacity as a director; and
2. is attending for the purpose of conducting the affairs of the company.

Both of these criteria must be met to claim the exemption.

To provide evidence of this, our suggestion would be to have and keep an agenda for the meeting. This can set out the required attendance of the director and also shows clearly the purpose of the meeting in conducting the affairs of the company. If you are in any doubt as to whether this measure applies to you please don’t hesitate to give us a call.