Results 21,561-21,580 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: It is drafted very narrowly.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: They were never taxed until the ruling. The Department of Education and Skills paid the tax last year because the ruling was made after payments had been made. The Department of Education and Skills approached me and suggested I speak to the Minister, Deputy Howlin, about giving it extra money because it could not run the State examinations if there were a reduction in this element of the...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I do not think so. The general issue is expenses from one's home to one's place of work. It was the practice in the supervision of State examinations that no supervisor could be in a neighbourhood school. Under the terms of their contract, they had to be quite a distance from home. Usually it would be 30 to 40 miles and sometimes it would be much farther. I think because of that...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: Section 7 amends section 470 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 which provides relief for insurance against the expenses of illness. This amendment will have the effect of changing the definition of a child in the section to reflect the changes that were made to section 7(5) of the Health Insurance Act 1994 by the Health Insurance (Amendment) Act 2014. The amendment to the Health Insurance...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: That is not quite it. Changes were made in a previous Finance Bill which removed the tax break below a certain threshold and in doing that it caught children under 18 years. Now there are policies on offer. Effectively we want the child exemption to apply to children, as defined now, between 18 and 21 years. It is a concession to bring tax practice into line with the types of insurance...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: The Minister for Health contacted me on this issue.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: The Commission on Taxation in its 2009 report recommended the retention of medical insurance relief but that it should be limited. The introduction of an upper ceiling on the amount of medical insurance premiums that qualify for tax relief achieves this recommendation. That is what we did in a previous Finance Bill. This Government also supports citizens in retaining access to medical...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: The home renovation incentive scheme has been very successful to date, with works on just over 27,000 homes notified to the Revenue HRI online system as of 30 September 2015. This represents more than €588 million worth of works involving 6,000 contractors. That it is online and the contractor has to register as tax compliant means everything that happens is in the white economy...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I think much of what has happened is that people who were experienced in building went back to work as a result of this scheme, such as, for instance, a guy and his brother or his former employee who might be a bricklayer or a carpenter. They would register as a contractor. It would not be movement from the black economy to the legitimate economy. Some of it was movement from unemployment...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: My officials tell me that Revenue is engaged in an analysis of the RCT payment patterns to identify the compliance issue. The number of registrations is up.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I have been looking at this but have not done anything in the Finance Bill. Anyone with experience of rural Ireland knows that where the shops on the main street are no longer trading, the living accommodation over the shop is not in use either. It is very difficult to come up with a scheme that would incentivise it. There was a previous scheme - the living over the shop scheme - but that...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: It is a major issue. I am not proposing anything in this Bill. In the future, if I am still in a position to do something, it is an area of very significant need in respect of which action is required. There is a need for an economic justification. I think the sequence for rural Ireland is to build the economy on agriculture, food, tourism, construction and the professions which provide...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I move amendment No. 14:In page 11, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following:“10. (1) The Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after section 112A:“112B. (1)In this section—‘benefit’ means a tangible asset other than cash; ‘qualifying incentive’ means either a voucher or a benefit that is given to an employee by his or...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I move amendment No. 15:In page 12, to delete line 21 and substitute the following:“(2) Subsection (1) applies for the year of assessment 2016 and each subsequent year of assessment.”. This section is due to commence on 1 January 2016. The Revenue Commissioners advised me that, for the avoidance of doubt, the commencement would be better stated as "for the year of assessment...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: Self-assessed taxpayers have an additional annual return filing obligation compared to those who pay their taxes through the PAYE system. Individuals who are predominantly PAYE taxpayers but who earn a small amount of other non-PAYE income do not at present automatically move into the self-employed system, provided their net other income does not exceed €3,174. It is taken into...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I thank the Deputy.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy has just asked for tax relief for rural towns. The management of our woodlands is a rural activity. I do not like to take things out of the high income earners' liabilities, but there is a justification for this proposal. Most of the constituency represented by Deputy Tóibín is rural. It is hard for one to harvest forestry if one has to go back in for a second or...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I do not disagree with the Deputy's analysis of the high earner restriction. As a general rule, I am opposed to changes in the application of that restriction because it has been effective. It continues to be an effective measure, and I believe this is due in large part to the fact that it applies across such a wide range of reliefs. In this instance, however, I am satisfied that the...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: One could make that argument in respect of anything we do.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: The economic contribution of forestry to the State is important, particularly in rural areas. We have not seen many forests in the middle of cities yet. The total employment of more than-----