Exercise in Ireland has become expensive
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.
Exercise in Ireland has become expensive. Public health campaigns never stop telling us to move more. But the cost of a gym membership has become just too much for many. So should we be able to claim tax back on that gym membership? I'm joined by Fianna Fáil TD Peter Chapclear for more on this. Good morning to you. Good morning, Clare.
Why has exercise in Ireland become expensive?
Good morning to your listeners. Can we not run the roads now if we can't afford the gym membership? Yeah, well, that option is still available to everybody. But look, obviously, one of the specific measures in the programme for government, Clare, is to try and increase participation in sport, particularly amongst females. And I suppose what I've been calling for for the last number of months is for a 20% tax relief or a tax credit on memberships of any sort of a sports membership, whether it be a gym, whether it be your local G8 club, whether it be your local swimming pool, whatever the case may be. I think it will be really, really putting money back into the pockets of the squeeze middle. And again, I've commissioned a report from the Parliamentary Budget Office in the Oireachtas.
whereby families and individuals would receive a tax credit on their membership fees for sporting organisations that would be capped at €500. So what would you get?
What are the implications of high gym membership costs?
You'd get 20% back on that. Exactly, exactly. So basically the average spend on sports membership per person in Ireland at the moment is actually €415. So the report I've commissioned is that if we put a cap in terms of the memberships combined of two and a half thousand, that would mean the most an individual person could get back in a calendar year would be 20 percent of that, which would be 500 euro.
Should gym memberships be tax-deductible?
So you'd claim this back then at the end of the year, like you do with your GP visits or your your medical treatments, dental and so on. Is that how it would work? Absolutely. So what happened, Clare, you take my own situation and I'm married with four kids and my kids will be involved in GA and swimming and soccer and all sorts of sports. So as a family, you would add up all your sporting memberships over the course of a calendar year. And similar to your medical receipts returned at the end of the year, you would send in your return and you would get a rebate based on your actual spend up to a maximum of 500 euros. So I think a lot of people would welcome it in principle, but when you think about it, there might still be a barrier to entry there because you have to speculate the money and then you get it back at the end of the year and people mightn't just have it.
Would it not make more sense to do an intervention at the point of paying so that the gyms or the clubs would be able to charge reduced fees to families so it's easier to sign up in the first place? think that's a very fair point uh claire but my number one priority is trying to make sure that uh the the there's provision made in the budget 2027 for this to be put in place in terms of the actual mechanics and how it works uh i'd be very flexible on it but for me it would be very simple uh given the system that's currently in operation uh to just add sporting memberships very similar to your medical side of things if you are a payee worker at the moment you can during the course of a year you can actually once you've spent let's say 500 euro on a gym membership you can put in your application and get your rebate straight away so if you're a PAYE worker that option is available to you but for me the simplest way would be over the course of a year add up your memberships and you get a rebate back then similar to your medical expenses
A listener says you can walk or run outside for nothing and get fresh air too. And we said that at the top. But they go on to say that Ireland doesn't have the money to fund tax credits for this and we can exercise for free. So it's expenditure they're saying that shouldn't happen. Well, as I said, I did commission a report from the Parliamentary Budget Office and if the total cost of the tax relief in 2027 will be a little over £90 million.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:29
2
Why has exercise in Ireland become expensive?
0:29–1:22
3
What are the implications of high gym membership costs?
1:22–1:45
4
Should gym memberships be tax-deductible?
1:45–4:16
5
What tax relief measures are being proposed for sports memberships?
4:16–7:35