Irish Life, an insurance group that employs 2,400 staff in Ireland, has made a pre-budget submission to the Government that calls for a number of taxation changes on its products.
The group has called on the State to reduce the 41 per cent exit tax on life assurance products to 33 per cent, which would eventually bring it into line with capital gains tax and Dirt tax on savings.
It has also called for the removal of the 1 per cent levy on life assurance policies brought in during the crash in 2009, which it says acts as a disincentive for uptake of assurance policies.
It also wants hospitals to be stopped from charging private patients on trollies in public wards the same as patients in semi-private rooms, a measure introduced in 2014. Irish Life says this is costing the insurance industry €200 million per year and driving up premiums.
Irish Life also wants the two flat rates charged on health insurance replaced with a levy based upon a percentage of the premium cost.
“The flat-rate model artificially increases the premium on lower-level plans,” said Irish Life.
“This has led to more customers cancelling their plans. It is a socially regressive tax . . . Changing the levy to a per cent of the premium would be revenue neutral. It would also make health insurance more affordable for customers on entry-level plans,” it said.
