O’Donoghue took action to save film tax relief scheme, records reveal

PROPOSALS to overhaul Section 481 tax relief for film investors were successfully resisted by the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism John O’Donoghue earlier this year.

O’Donoghue had said they would “kill off” the movie industry in Ireland.

Last year, Revenue announced that it had uncovered evidence of abuse of the S481 scheme, amounting to between €17million-€22m, or over 6% of the total allocation. Department of Finance records obtained by the Irish Examiner under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the minister opposed some far-reaching suggestions put forward by Revenue to prevent abuses.