Results 5,221-5,240 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I can help the Deputy on that point. The Department of Finance has agreed a multi-year joint research programme with the ESRI on taxation policy and the macro-economy. Under this research partnership, economists in my Department will work alongside ESRI researchers on various new tax-related research topics aimed at gaining a better understanding of the links between various taxes,...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: What I said was there was no base for a wealth tax available anywhere in the country, but we constantly upgrade our research.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: First, the local property tax is a tax on all property and so it includes multi-property owners, as described by the Deputy.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: To differentiate and isolate multi-property owners would not be, I suggest, to target the very wealthy. Many second homes are holiday homes that are owned by retired people and are located around the coast in places like Wicklow, Wexford, Connemara, Kerry and Donegal.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: Many of these houses are holiday homes bought by retired public servants through their pensions. That is the Deputy's definition of the wealthy. As well as that, since the famous Supreme Court case taken by a former President when practising at the law, a caravan is a residence rather than a vehicle such that mobile homes and caravans would be included as well. The Deputy needs to examine...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy referred to a tax on second residences.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: For example?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: How long does the Deputy think deposits in excess of €1 million would remain in banks in Ireland if people were hit with a property tax of 3% or 4%? How long does the Deputy think those deposits would remain here in these days of electronic transfer of money?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: Deputy Boyd Barrett is visiting Greece too often.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I must refresh myself on Sinn Féin's wealth tax proposal because the last time I read it, it contained a proposal in relation to the exemption of land. During his contribution just now Deputy Tóibín included land in the list of assets in respect of which the wealth tax would apply.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: Working land?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: What does the Deputy mean by "working farmland"?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: If the advised stocking level of a farm is 60 cows and associated calves, is the land of an elderly couple living on a farm which has 15 cows rambling around it working land?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: My Department is not making this proposal.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I thought the position of Sinn Féin was that the price of zoned land is too high and is making too big a contribution to the cost base of ordinary starter homes such that we need to reduce the price of land for starter homes rather than increase it by imposing a 4% tax on it.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: The intention is to retain control of the property tax such that it does not become a type of automatic imposition on households because the price of houses throughout the country or in one part of it rise unexpectedly. That is the purpose of the decision. The revaluation date was due in November 2016. We will now defer it. It is difficult to estimate the potential loss because...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that it is not possible to provide a prescriptive set of criteria that a property must meet to be treated as not suitable for occupation as a dwelling house. They cannot provide the black-and-white criteria the Deputy seeks. However, the test for liability for property tax is whether the house is occupied. If the damage is so severe that people...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: They will not have a liability until the next valuation date. One might argue that this is . If, however, one considers factors such as time of purchase, negative equity and the bad times we have come through, then one can put it down to good fortune.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: If possible, I will legislate on the revaluation date and the pyrite issue before Christmas but the agenda is becoming very crowded. The Dáil is scheduled to return after Christmas and the amending legislation is only a couple of sections. With the Deputy's and the Opposition's help, it should not take much time to process. However, it is important to do it because we should give it a...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I thank the Deputies. A substantial amount of analysis covering some of the groups the Deputies have listed has already been published. The Department of Social Protection has, on 4 November last, published a social impact assessment of the welfare and income tax measures in budget 2016. The social impact assessment was completed in consultation with the Department of Finance in respect of...