Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My amendment has been ruled out of order. While the Chairman signs the ruling, he gets a direction to do so. I raise this issue in the debate on every Finance Bill and I have dealt with seven. It is not clear how the rules are applied. I hope the Chairman will take up this issue at a later stage. My amendment on intangible assets to change the date to an earlier one has been ruled out of order because it involves a potential cost on the people. A different amendment which would have resulted in a cost of €20 million was allowed for debate. It is pot luck whether amendments will be allowed. There is a need for a report on that issue.

In section 28 I wanted to delete lines 10 to 13 and substitute the following:

Where a person disposes of land with residential development potential to which this section applies during the period beginning 4 years after the date they were acquired and ending 7 years after that date, any gain on the disposal of such land shall not be a chargeable gain.

The concern about the section is that it deals with the seven-year capital gains tax exemption. It is not just for development land but all types of land and commercial assets bought during the period. I have made the point, for example, that somebody who purchased a hotel some years ago, for whom the seven-year timeframe has not elapsed and who plans to sell it next year, will not pay capital gains tax at the rate of 33% on the gains made. That is wrong. I support the principle behind the amendment and the rationale for it that has been played out publicly. It also fits in with what I said about the five-year dividend withholding tax exemption. We need to focus on freeing up land for development, but the amendment to section 28 would not capture development land only.