Artists’ tax exemption - Scheme has no credibility

BERTIE AHERN did nothing wrong when he secured tax-free status under the artists’ exemption scheme for earnings from his autobiography. This, after all, is small cheese to a man who can claim travel costs even though he has a state car and driver.

But what he did do was to show how daft the scheme is and how discredited it has become. Though a threshold of €125,000 was imposed in last December’s budget, this indulgence, in its current form, is no longer appropriate.

It will have to be reshaped to help artists establish careers but it can’t be open-ended. People should only be allowed avail of if for, say, five years. It should only be available to anyone whose primary income is generated through the arts.

The spirit of the original legislation must be restored because what we have now is a shabby tax dodge of the most offensive kind.