Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his amendment. Section 15 makes two changes to section 208B of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, which contains the administrative provisions for the charitable tax exemptions provided for in sections 207 and 208 and the arrangements concerning overseas charities provided for by section 208A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.

The first amendment provides that Revenue may withdraw the charitable tax exemption under either sections 207, 208 or 208A where it is satisfied that the charity is no longer eligible for the exemption. In such cases, the exemption will be withdrawn from the date which the charity was found to be no longer eligible. The amendment also provides that Revenue will inform the charities regulatory authority of cases where the exemption is withdrawn.

The second amendment provides for the publication of a list of charitable bodies that have received tax exemption under sections 207 and 208 and a separate list of all foreign established trusts that have received exemptions under section 208A. This amendment ensures that there is a legislative basis for Revenue to do this.

Deputy Nash has proposed two amendments to section 15 relating to the publication of the list of bodies who have received the tax exemption under sections 207, 208 and 208A of the Taxes Consolidation Act. Deputy Nash suggests replacing the word “may” with “shall” in relation to the publication of the list. This would impose a statutory obligation on Revenue to publish such a list, rather than giving it a legislative basis to publish the list. The wording proposed by Deputy Nash would also oblige Revenue to update the list every time a charity is granted the tax exemption, rather than update it periodically, which would place a further burden on Revenue which may not be achievable in real time. It is my understanding that, upon enactment of the Finance Bill, Revenue will publish the list on its website and update it periodically.

The Deputy's second proposed amendment to section 15 provides that Revenue would be obliged to publish a list of all of the charities which have been served with a notice that the tax exemption is being withdrawn. This would mean that the affected charities would have their withdrawal published potentially before they have had a chance to exercise their statutory right of appeal against the withdrawal of their exemption and it could therefore infringe on their legal rights. Section 15 will allow the public to check the published list of bodies which have the exemption at a given time.

Section 16 makes two changes to section 235 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, which provides for an exemption from income tax and corporation tax on the income of certain bodies established for the purpose of the promotion of athletic or amateur games or sports. The first change inserts definitions of competitive sport, recreational sport and sport into section 235. The definitions are taken directly from the Sport Ireland Act 2015, and including them in this section is intended to provide clarity as to what bodies are eligible to apply for tax exemption. The section also inserts a grandfathering clause which allows bodies already granted the tax exemption under this section to retain it subject to the conditions under which it was granted. The second change provides for the publication of a list of bodies that have been granted a tax exemption under section 235. This ensures that there is a legislative basis for Revenue to do this.

Deputy Nash has proposed an amendment to section 16 as initiated. The amendment relates to the publication of the list of sports bodies which have been granted tax exemption under section 235. The Deputy proposes replacing the word "may" with "shall" in relation to the publication of the list. This would impose a statutory obligation on Revenue to publish such a list, rather than giving Revenue a legislative basis to do so. The wording proposed would also oblige Revenue to update the list every time an approved body is granted the tax exemption, rather than periodically update it as it currently does, which would place a further burden on Revenue which may not be achievable in real time. It is my understanding that Revenue will publish the list on its website and update it periodically. For these reasons, I do not propose to accept the amendments.