Cowen eases rule on tax break

Finance Minister Brian Cowen has announced plans to make a technical change to the 31 December 2004 condition for certifying developments of third level educational buildings that attract tax breaks.

The change will be introduced in the upcoming Finance Bill. The minister will grant approval for tax breaks if the relevant application has been lodged with the Department of Finance before December 31.

This marks a change from the previous policy, which made it necessary for the department to review and approve the application by that date in order to qualify for the incentives.