Gift Card Sales Increased in 2016 Due to Tax Free Threshold – Savills
The sale of gift cards at three of Ireland’s largest shopping centres reached new highs in 2016. Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in Dublin witnessed card sales increase by 13%. In Kildare, sales at Whitewater increased by 9%, and in Cork, at Mahon Point, the figure was 1%.
Across all three shopping centres, approximately 125,000 gift cards were sold throughout the year, according to a report released on Monday by Savills, who act as property management agents across all three centres. A significant rise in sales to corporates was also recorded, most notably at Liffey Valley, where corporate sales were up 102% on 2015.
In the Budget of October 2015, Finance Minister Michael Noonan announced that the limit an employer can provide an employee with a single non-cash benefit without applying PAYE, PRSI, etc., would rise from €250 to €500.
According to Roy Deller of Savills Property Management, there was an immediate spike in sales following the announcement, with many businesses choosing to take advantage of the change and reward their employees with a non-cash gift as a Christmas bonus: “Gift cards or vouchers have always been popular amongst Irish consumers – not just at Liffey Valley Mahon Point and Whitewater – but at major shopping centres throughout the country. However, the introduction of the new tax-free limits, combined with the recovering consumer economy, have pushed demand to unprecedented new highs – particularly amongst corporates – and we expect this trend to continue.”
According to Retail Excellence Ireland, the Irish gift card market is currently worth approximately €600m per annum.
See more detailed figures here.
