Hi Folks,
Following up on an earlier post regarding ARF and over 65's payment. I found an updated policy on this topic and initially though they had fixed the anomoly between Annuities and ARFs, but on closer examination it only applies to Self-employed. Can that be correct? Interested in hearing your thoughts. As a PAYE tax payer all my life i find it hard to understand the logic behind this.
The Public Services Card is designed to replace other cards such as the free travel pass and the social services card of the Department of Social Protection.
www.citizensinformation.ie
Approved Retirement Funds
With effect from 25 October 2022, for those qualifying for BP 65 under JBSE legislation a new Regulation has been introduced to provide that self-employed contributors who have lost their usual self-employed occupation and who are in receipt of an Approved Retirement Fund (ARF) (as defined by section 784A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997) may be eligible for JBSE/BP65 in certain circumstances.
The new Regulation (SI 540 of 2022), which takes effect from 25/10/2022, provides that any week where a self-employed contributor is in receipt of income solely from an ARF it is considered a week of unemployment and the person may be considered eligible for JBSE where:
- the person has sustained the loss of self-employment in their usual occupation (A person’s usual occupation is one where the type of work a person ordinarily performs for most of the time is by virtue of experience and/or training and is within a particular field of work).
- and the loss of the usual self-employment occurred since the beginning of the second last complete calendar year before the year in which the application is made. For example, in order to qualify for a claim made in 2022, the applicant’s usual self-employed business must have closed on or after 01 January 2020. If the usual business closed before this date, JBSE and consequently BP65 is not payable.
The effect of the new provision is to provide that if in any week a person has income solely from an ARF (and paying S cons) it will be treated as a week of unemployment and so he/she won’t be considered to be engaged in self-employment for the purpose of the JBSE/BP65 conditions as long as they were also in a self-employed occupation and lost that employment no earlier than the beginning of the second last complete calendar year before the year in which the application is made.
This Regulation change applies only to persons who are self-employed contributors solely in respect of an ARF. The position as regards self-employed contributors in receipt of unearned income from other sources, such as rental income, has not changed. They continue to be ineligible for JBSE/BP65 as heretofore, if they are liable for a self-employment contribution – other than in the case where subsidiary employment may be determined.