Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The effect of the proposed amendment would be to compel banks, credit unions and other financial institutions to issue an annual statement showing the amount of deposit interest retention tax that has been deducted from the deposit interest paid to an account holder.

The current position is set out in section 262 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, which requires financial institutions to issue a statement containing certain information on DIRT when asked to do so by an account holder. Institutions are required to set out the amount of interest paid, the amount of DIRT deducted from that payment, the net amount of interest paid and the date of that payment. The question of whether such a statement should be mandatory was considered by the Financial Regulator in 2006. The result of that office's examination led to the inclusion of a further provision in Chapter 3 of the consumer protection code.

The statement shall provide information on the tax deducted or inform consumers how they may obtain a certificate detailing the tax paid. The amendment, if implemented, would be likely to involve the issue of several million interest statements which would be a significant administrative imposition on the institutions, especially in cases where the account holder may not need or want the information. The existing requirement whereby such statements are issued on request strikes a more reasonable balance and ensures that a statement is issued only to those account holders who wish to have the information.

In many bank accounts the information can be gleaned from the statement furnished in respect of the two statutory deduction periods.

See this speech in context