Tourism chiefs get Hooked on Co Wexford
TOURISM buyers from 23 countries visited County Wexford recently during a fact-finding tour across Ireland, ahead of attending Meitheal, Ireland’s largest tourism trade fair which took place in Citywest Hotel in Dublin in mid-April.
The visiting businesspeople and tour operators came from key markets including Great Britain, the USA and mainland Europe on the trip which was organised by Fáilte Ireland, in conjunction with Tourism Ireland.
During their tour of Wexford, the buyers enjoyed a visit to a number of Wexford’s iconic tourist attractions such as Hook Lighthouse, Loftus Hall, Dunbrody Famine Ship and the Irish National Heritage Park, enjoying great food along the way.
Bespoke itineraries for the fact-finding tours were designed by Fáilte Ireland to give the overseas buyers a first-hand experience of what their clients can expect to see and do while in Ireland with a key focus on the tourism development authority’s destination brands – Ireland’s Ancient East, the Wild Atlantic Way and Dublin.
Speaking about the importance of these trips, Fáilte Ireland’s Director of Marketing, Niall Tracey said: ‘With world-class scenery, hospitality, activities, attractions, culture, heritage and food, it is little wonder that tourists from every corner of the globe set their sights on Ireland. Driving growth in the regions through tourism is a key priority for us at Fáilte Ireland and through tailored trips like this one to Wexford, we can show top international buyers different parts of the country, all with their own unique flavour of Ireland. ‘ This gives them firsthand experience of our cultural riches and tourism offerings, which they can then sell on to their customers around the world – ensuring Ireland is on everybody’s map and itinerary for 2019 and beyond,’ he said.
Q AAN AMRF is an Approved Minimum Retirement Fund. It is commonly used for those who decline the option of using their retirement fund to purchase an Annuity – an income for life, and where the option of an ARF (Approved Retirement Fund) is not allowed under Revenue rules.
Whilst an AMRF allows you to retain ownership for your pension monies, there is a limit to the amount you can withdraw from your AMRF before the age of 75. You can only withdraw a maximum of 4% per annum from the AMRF.
Revenue rules require you to invest €63,500 into an AMRF prior to investing in an ARF, down from €119,800 in recent years.
A broad outline of the Revenue rules that must be satisfied in order not too have to enter into an AMRF are:
1. You must have a minimum guaranteed income for life, currently set at €12,700 per annum, or:
2. You must already have previously invested €63,500 from the proceeds of another Pension or current Pension in an AMRF (Approved Minimum Retirement Fund)
A simple example of the above rules in operation is:
Male aged 67 with a guaranteed income of €11,000 per annum, who declines an Annuity option available to him with his Personal Pension and who does not currently have an AMRF in existence: Pension Fund of:
Tax Free Cash Available of 25%: Balance of pension funds remaining
after taking tax free cash: €80,000 €20,000 €60,000 Invest in an AMRF as Revenue Rules are not exceeded: €60,000
So, now that I have placed the balance of my Pension Fund in an AMRF, how is my money invested and what are the taxation implications on any withdrawals I make from the AMRF?
Monies in your AMRF can be invested in a wide range of asset classes, depending on the level of risk and volatility you are prepared to accept. This can range from simple cash / deposit based AMRF options, offering very poor returns of circa 0.2% per annum at present or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, investing in property, equity bonds and the stock market. Any withdrawals you take from your AMRF are assessable for Income Tax, PRSI (in certain cases) and USC. There is a limit to the amount you withdraw from your AMRF
If we take the above example of the €60,000 AMRF, this equates to an AMRF distribution of €2,400 per annum that can be taken to age 75.
The AMRF route has obvious disadvantages in terms of access. It does however offer the opportunity of retaining ownership of your monies, offers investment control and also the opportunity of leaving these funds to your estate in the event of your untimely death.
For more information on pensions and investments, please contact Michael Coburn on 053 9170507 or email mcoburn@rda.ie