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

I will begin with the comparison Deputy Boyd Barrett made with the taxation of intellectual property. Of course, with regard to revenue which might have been available from intellectual property and the Seamus Coffey argument at the time the Deputy refers, it was not the intention of the State to tax that income at that point in our history. It was the case of the State taxing this income in our recent history. That is the difference between the two.

I make the point to Deputy Boyd Barrett that the increasing corporate tax revenue has slowed down in September and October, as I expected it to. Nonetheless, what we see happening in our corporate tax revenues over 2020 shows we are effectively taxing companies which, one could argue and in some places would be correct in arguing, are doing well in a time of pandemic. That, therefore, is why we have increasing corporate tax revenues. The difference in our argument at this debate with regard to this revenue is that we made clear at that point it was the intention of the Government to tax it. That was made clear in the Dáil by me and the Minister, Deputy Humphreys.

I will address the questions put to me by Deputy Boyd Barrett regarding how much revenue could be affected by this. I have been reminded by my officials that the reason, of course, depends on what the taxable income of an individual will be across the entire year as opposed to the point in time to which we refer, in other words, between March and August. Unusually, I do not have the figures available to me right now. We tax income on the basis of the year as a whole. Because of the many layers of uncertainty regarding the year and the way in which income has changed across that period, the Revenue Commissioners or the Department of Finance are not in a position to be able to say what we expect that figure to be. My expectation, however, is that for many of those affected the figure will be spread across a four-year period. While it is, of course, still a tax people will pay, I do not believe it will be as big as many other tax taxable liabilities people will face and have to pay. I believe it will be a small share of our overall taxable income.

I will answer the question put to me by Deputy Doherty and then go back to the question of timing from Deputy Barry who asked when that information will be available. I reaffirm again that this payment was made under section 202 of the Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Act 2020. However, just because it was made under that heading does not mean we can ignore the rest of the social welfare code and the rest of the social welfare legislation. Section 189 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 is clear in saying that supplementary welfare allowances are means-tested.

This is not a supplementary welfare allowance. It is an income support. While I am absolutely aware of the consequences it will have for those affected, as an income support it has to be taxed as such. That was made clear at the time of its introduction. It has also been made clear in how it has been taxed throughout 2020.