Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The Revenue Commissioners do not exhort individuals to avail of the artists exemption tax relief scheme or other property-based tax reliefs under section 23 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. It is solicitors and accountants who discover where tax reliefs exist and produce promotional literature on the night of, and the morning after, the budget. It is also untrue to say that no information exists about the tax reliefs people can obtain in respect of medical expenses, VHI, water tax or trade union subscriptions.

Following the last budget, the tax rate for a person on the average industrial wage is now 12 percentage points lower than it was a few years ago — it is now 15% compared to 27% a few years ago. Given that tax rates are not as high as they once were as a result of the tax policies of this Government, people do not see that. I have stated that I will take up this point. Comhairle and the citizens' information centres highlight the tax reliefs that exist. I accept that this work is possibly not as high profile as it should be. The Minister has issued the report into why the full tax certificates were not given to 2,000 out of the 1 million or so people who are income earners. Approximately 750,000 of these earners are now exempt from tax.

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