Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have been reminded of a feature to which I would like to draw the committee's attention. Deputy Pearse Doherty raised an issue with events declared that lead to a tax liability. Within the Bill, separately to the measures introduced as financial resolutions, we have brought in a measure whereby the filing requirement for IREFs will be placed on a mandatory footing and the details on the return that Revenue can request have been broadened. The Deputy made a point regarding the circumstances in which returns are made. The Bill provides that the return will be mandatory, given that it will be on a statutory footing, and the Revenue Commissioners will be able to request more detail than has been the case. It also outlines a further penalty for non-compliance with the filing requirements.

On Deputy Denis Naughten's point, we debated the issue in respect of last year's Finance Bill, perhaps even with him. The working group on the treatment of landlords, which was completed over the course of 2017, influenced what we did in 2018, and we examined the issue at that point. The issue with which were confronted was the challenge there would be in giving tax support to new tenancies because we would also have had to give it to existing ones, and the cost consequences of doing so were significant. I can, however, share the work with the Deputy. Last year's Finance Bill contained a number of measures for the rental sector, whereas this year's does not.