Results 10,661-10,680 of 32,864 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: We already have a series of very progressive taxes in Ireland. We have income tax, local property tax and ways in which we can ensure that those who have the most pay the most. Deputy Barry referred to a number of figures - €2 billion and €3.8 billion. He might indicate who produced those figures and where they came from because I have no doubt that very sudden and...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy. The professional services withholding tax, PSWT, was introduced in 1987 and is a 20% withholding tax deducted at source from payments made by accountable persons such as Departments for certain professional services. PSWT deducted is allowed as a credit against income tax or corporation tax of the individual or company that has suffered it. While there have been some...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: By the end of next June.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The criteria for this is that, currently, Irish resident companies are also exempt from the dividend withholding tax so we are bringing the rate of the tax in line with the dividend withholding tax. There will be a variety of different companies included within that. This amendment is in line with other withholding taxes like, for example, the deposit interest retention tax. The answer to...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: Is it the details they are required to submit themselves? They are required to submit their corporation tax number.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: Just to say, if it helps the committee, our officials will be available to do section 24 if we get to it. We can, therefore, do that this evening or if we do not get to it, we can do it tomorrow.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: While there is a brief pause, I would like to correct something I said earlier when I was answering questions from Deputies Naughten and Canney. I said the HSE had already recommenced assessments in respect of the primary medical certificate. I was wrong on that. The processing of applications cannot begin until this Bill is enacted. I apologise for providing inaccurate information to the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: We are good to go.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: Members may be aware that last year officials in my Department produced a report on REITs, IREFs and section 110 companies as they invest in the Irish property market. The report was presented to the tax strategy group and published in July 2019. This paper provided the basis for policy discussions and a number of amendments were then introduced as part of the Finance Act 2019. In...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not know who Deputy Doherty is accusing of kicking and screaming but it is not me. In the debate on the Finance Bill two years ago I said that in dealing with the IREFs I would collect information on their operation and the way in which they were being taxed. When I collected that information, I then acted. The Deputy has acknowledged that. I have made some very important changes in...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: REITs currently own 3.1% of Dublin apartment stock and 1.9% of the national apartment stock. When I was referring earlier to the purchase of apartments, I did not say that all of the apartments they purchased were built due to the presence of REITs but I believe that some are. The reasons we have REITs in place here is that they play a role in having landlords of scale within the property...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: We tax these entities in other ways. We tax them when their income is distributed. They are taxed in this way to ensure that when income is distributed to their shareholders it is taxed at that point. While the Deputy is correct in what he has said regarding the fact that they are not taxed in those particular areas, he does not acknowledge that these entities are taxed in other ways when...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not have the information available on the split of the owners within REITs. If it becomes available to me after this engagement, I will share it with the Deputy.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: That DWT is the way in which we tax when that income is distributed.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: It varies from treaty to treaty, but the most common agreed rate in dividends is at 15%.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: Both Irish and non-resident DWT, at the standard rate of 25%, will be deducted by the REITs, from dividends paid to shareholders. Foreign investors investing into treaty countries may be able to reclaim some of this DWT under the relevant tax treaty. Tax treaty rates and dividends vary from treaty to treaty, but both the common rates applicable to small shareholdings will be 15%. This...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: In each of the Finance Bills that I have done, I have examined how these entities are taxed, and I have made changes to them where necessary. I will do that again to ensure that we are taxing them in a way that is comparable to how they are taxed in other countries but recognises that they play a role, for example, in commercial property that I believe is valuable.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The section amends section 288 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 to better align our tax regime for intangible assets with international best practice. Financial Resolution No. 4 allows this measure to take effect from 14 October. Like many other countries, Ireland has, since 2009, granted capital allowances on certain intangible assets that companies manage, develop or exploit. These...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I am aware of some of the difficulties Deputy Doherty is referring to but this is the reason Screen Ireland, with the support of the Department of Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, has launched a production continuation fund. This is a pilot initiative which has a €5 million fund to assist production companies to deal with uncertainties that have been caused by Covid-19. I...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy. I also want to acknowledge the long-standing interest he has in this sector and all the work he has done on it. As he said, the changes we have made on the application for section 481 relief are significant and were designed to respond to the issues we debated during the passage of the previous two Finance Bills. If we look at the conditions laid down in the...