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

I thank the Acting Chairman for allowing me in. I know a working group is examining the taxation of rental income by various recipients. Could the Minister clarify whether this working group will report by the end of July, as envisaged, and whether it will feed into budgetary considerations for October? I acknowledge that the overarching issue is one of supply and that this is what underpins all of this.

3 o’clock

In respect of the various ways in which rental income is taxed - for an individual private landlord, it is up to 55% at the marginal rate, while for companies, it is 25%, plus a further 20% where there is a close company surcharge - while I can understand some of the logic behind incentivising professional institutional landlords, if the Minister is trying to encourage private individuals to purchase one-off houses in estates here and there, they simply will not do so. When will the report be completed and will it feed into budgetary considerations prior to October?

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