NIGHT NURSES: The Irish Cancer Society has called on the Revenue Commissioners to review the case of cancer night nurses, who are being taxed on mileage expenses received for travelling to and from patients' homes.
Some 200 night nurses employed by the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) travel from their own homes to their patients' homes.
This journey is deemed a journey from home to work and for tax purposes the Revenue does not consider it a work expense.
Therefore, when the ICS pays its employees mileage, the journey is taxed.
John McCormack, chief executive officer of the ICS, has called on the Revenue Commissioners to review the structures for this "unique" group.
He confirmed to The Irish Times that the society was currently in negotiation with the Revenue on the issue.
Mr McCormack expressed the hope that nurses would become exempt from paying tax on half of their journey; so if a nurse has to travel 40 miles to a patient's house, the first 20 miles would not be taxed.
A spokesperson for the Revenue Commissioners said that it would not comment on individual cases.
According to the Revenue, journeys between an employee's home and place of work are not business journeys; expenses which are incurred by employees in travelling to and from work are not allowable for tax purposes and any reimbursement of these expenses must be treated as payment.
Night nurses, however, should be given special treatment by the Revenue, according to Mr McCormack.
Most employees who travel in the course of their work received tax-free mileage expenses, he stated.
Public health nurses, for example, operate from a base and so can claim tax-free motoring expenses for all their journeys to patients' homes, he explained. Night nurses, however, operate from their homes and therefore don't get this benefit.
"They provide a service for people who have cancer in their own homes during the terminal stages. Families really rely on this service. They provide not only nursing but also psychological services often to people living in very remote areas. They need a break," Mr McCormack said.
The ICS provides a night nursing service for critically ill patients with cancer in their homes, free of charge. They work from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. The service enables the patient to remain at home.
Night nurses sit with the patient through the night, providing nursing care, practical support and reassurance.
Last year, over 1,000 families availed of the ICS's night nursing service, which is paid for entirely by donations from the public.