Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Rourke for tabling these amendments. I am opposing these amendments on two grounds, which I will go through. The specified date in this Bill, as referred to under section 2, provides for when the temporary solidarity contribution is to be payable by an energy company and section 8, which provides for when an energy company must make a return to the Revenue Commissioners.

The 23 September payment and return date for temporary solidarity contribution was chosen to coincide with the payment of corporation tax from which the temporary solidarity contribution is deductible. Bringing the payment date forward by two months, particularly in respect of the payment due in 2023, could mean that the companies may not have their accounts and the necessary information ready in order to make a return to the Revenue Commissioners. It is for that reason that they are fileable on the same date.

In addition, the second reason is that bringing forward the return date to 23 July would mean that a company would be required to make a return to the Revenue Commissioners before it is required to give notice to the Revenue Commissioners, as per section 7 of the Bill, which is currently 30 August.

Section 7 of the Bill requires that companies warn and notify the Revenue Commissioners of the payment they are going to make by 30 August and yet the amendments we see before us require that the filing date be brought forward to before the warning date, so they would be warning Revenue about something that had already happened in the past.

There is also a possibility that the legislation may not be commenced by the proposed date of 28 July. In that case, there would not be a legal basis on which to collect temporary solidarity contributions. For those reasons, therefore, I am not proposing to accept those two amendments.

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