Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

People will be surprised that Chambers Ireland is seeking a reduction in capital gains tax to 20%. I ask others to comment on whether they agree. I know it had been 20% and has been crawling up substantially in recent years. I would like those from the different organisations to comment.

My final question is probably more about inequity than anything else. Do the witnesses have a view on items such as tax relief on medical expenses? By definition, one must have taxable income to get tax relief on a medical expense. So if I have medical expenses in my household of €2,000, I get €400, or 20%, back from the taxman. My next door neighbours may have the same amount of expenditure but they are on a low income but above the threshold to get a medical card. They actually get no rebate because they do not have a taxable income. They might be on an income of €20,000 or €25,000 a year in the family. There is a deep inequity there that such reliefs are only available to those on a taxable income. Does TASC have a view on that?