Basic Income for the Arts (BIA)

The new Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) pilot scheme aims to support the arts and creative practice by giving a payment of €325 a week to artists and creative arts workers.

The main objective of the scheme is to address the financial instability faced by many working in the arts.

The pilot scheme closed for applications on 12 May 2022. 2,000 eligible artists and creative arts workers were selected at random and invited to take part in the pilot scheme.

The anonymised randomised selection of participants was held on 29 August 2022. Successful applicants were notified on 8 September 2022.

The pilot runs over 3 years, from 2022 to 2025.

You should check the BIA guidelines for the most up to date information.

Approximately 2,000 eligible applicants were selected to participate in the pilot scheme.

Once you meet the eligibility criteria, you were included in an anonymised random sampling process. A randomiser software was used to select participants at random. The sample was checked to ensure adequate representation.

The anonymised randomised selection of participants was held on 29 August 2022. You should have received notification of the outcome of your application on 8 September 2022.

The BIA grant is €325 a week. Payments are made monthly.

The pilot runs over 3 years, from 2022 to 2025. As this is a research pilot there is no guarantee that funding will continue after the pilot.

Taxation of BIA payments

The payment is taxable, but the amount of tax paid depends on your individual circumstances.

You need to register with Revenue as self-employed and pay Schedule D income tax, where appropriate, on the BIA payment. Income from the pilot will be liable for USC and Class S PRSI.

You are entitled to earn additional income, which would also be reckonable for the purposes of income tax.

You can get more information about the tax treatment of BIA payments from Revenue.

Social welfare treatment

Income from the scheme is treated as income from self-employment for the purpose of various means tests.

If you are in receipt of a social welfare payment and receive payments from the pilot scheme, you should advise the Department of Social Protection (DSP) of this change in your circumstances.

Read more about how the BIA interacts with DSP payments.

The pilot scheme evaluates the impact of a basic income on artists and creative arts workers. The pilot programme collects and analyses data from BIA recipients and a control group throughout the pilot.

If you were selected to participate on BIA, you will:

• Take part in the pilot research programme for 3 years (2022 to 2025)
• Engage in ongoing data collection as part of the pilot to determine the impact of the grant payment

You can read more about the type of data you need to collect and share if you were selected to participate in the BIA pilot.

The control group

A number of eligible applicants who were not selected to receive the payment were asked to participate in a control group. Control group participants respond to the same survey and data requests as those in receipt of the payment.

If you participate in the control group, you are paid two weeks basic income for each of the 3 years of the pilot scheme. This means you get 6 weeks of the BIA payment to compensate you for the time required to engage in the data collection process.

You can read the detailed scheme guidelines or the FAQ page Basic Income for the Arts Pilot Scheme - FAQs for more information about BIA.

You can contact the Basic Income for the Arts Pilot Scheme team by email at basicincomeforthearts@tcagsm.gov.ie.