If the loophole is there to be taken advantage off ,fairplay to him.

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The trifling economy of paper, as a cheaper medium, or its convenience for transmission, weighs nothing in opposition to the advantages of the precious metals... it is liable to be abused, has been, is, and forever will be abused, in every country in which it is permitted." --Thomas Jefferson to John W. Eppes, 1813.

Ah, I see where you're coming from now. Totally, totally agree. The idea that anything Gerry Ryan or Bertie could (supposedly) write would qualify as literature (fiction, certainly, but literature?) is an insult to Geoffrey Archer, never mind James Joyce.

To be fair, though, I don't think you did specify exactly that in the OP - I thought you were referring to the writer's exemption in general. And given that the average Irish writer's income from their work is something like five to ten grand, I don't think that genuinely creative people (who actually do contribute something positive) should be hit.

As for the other poltroons, though - lay it ****ing on! Sure I remember that Bertie character when he couldn't even sign a cheque!

This plonker has pissed on his chips in recent months, big time. He's finished IMO.

lads giving tax breaks to people to read books is laudable and its great that Gerry Ryan got to the end of his first one...

If I were James Joyce I'd be rolling in the 'oul grave at the mo'. The point that he got this and therefore was considered an "artist" would p1ss me off.

As for the tax exemption, not sure that it should not exist, but needs controlling to reduce the breadth of those who consider themselves ortists, and to reduce the height of ignorance of those who continue to take it when they can clearly contribute back something to the society that gave them the fodder to foster their creativity.

No, artist GRyan is not.

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We are "they"

Down through the years he has done his bit towards exposing wrongdoings.

He deserves some credit for that.
How many of you have made your decision about his writing ability without having read anything he has written.

If he is contributing something positive he is doing good. It is not as if he is going to make a fortune out of it.

I suppose in the present circumstances the government could bring in an ammendment where you will not qualify for tax free status if you bash the government or agents of the State.

the artists whose avergae income is five to ten grand on ap piece of work surely in most cases wouldnt be patying tax on that anyway,w ith a good accountant and spereading the income over the year...so do they need the excemption........

I love the 'tags' associated with this thread.
Wonder if they constitute 'creative writing' ?

Tags
i'm free!, lunatic taxation policy, nose in trough, ortists and their ilk.

Aren't all these biographies ghost written anyway so the artistic creation is by the ghost writer....why should the subject get an exemption? And if it's a biography, how is that creation of art, surely it's the re-telling of various stories ?

The artists tax exemption is quite simply wrong. People should be taxed on what they earn not what they do. A hospital cleaner for example does vital work keeping (hopefully) MRSA at bay but nobody suggests that cleaners are exempt from tax.

most artists have modest earnings and are not liable for income tax or if they are, not very much tax. When the exemption was originally brought in low earnings were subject to tax but in recent years income tax has been much reduced.

Currently, only artistic earnings over €250,000 pa (?) are subject to income tax. this was too much for poor Bono and the boys and they 'fled' to an off shore Dutch tax haven.

The scheme has become a farce. Well off people who write a one off book are getting the exemption. For example 'red' Ruairi Quinn got the exemption on his memoirs.

It should be abolished in the budget next week. but it won't. Poor cecelia Ahern couldn't be asked to contribute to the nation's coffers....