Support for GAA stars to get tax break
Call to recognise sacrifice made by players
TOP GAA players should get a tax break, the majority of people believe.
Research also shows a further 11% of 1,200 survey respondents would back an increase in grants for our top football and hurling stars.
Of those in support of bringing in tax credits, 74% believe both male and female players should benefit.
The Taxback.com survey found a quarter of people think the credit should be between €1,000 and €2,500, while 19% went for €2,500 to €5,000.
Taxback.com commercial director Eileen Devereux said: “On a GAA match day lots of parties make money – from bars and restaurants, to the ticket sellers to the guys trading hats and scarves.
Central to the occasion, however, are the players who are amateur and do not get paid.
“Given the level of commitment required to play GAA sports at an inter-county level we were interested to learn whether Irish taxpayers would be in favour of rewarding GAA players with a tax credit.
“The results revealed a significant appetite for the Government to bring in some form of financial incentive with a landslide majority of taxpayers [81%] in favour.”
Former inter-county stars Adrian Morrissey of Wexford and Dublin’s Mark Davoren would support such a move.
Davoren said: “If there are tax incentives for other sportspeople in Ireland I don’t think there’s any reason why GAA players shouldn’t be entitled to a tax credit.”