Results 21,601-21,620 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: I move amendment No. 20:In page 14, to delete line 26 and substitute the following: "(a) in subsection (1)(a)(ii), in paragraph (d) of the definition of "relevant period", by substituting " 'relevant amount' " for " 'average relevant amount' ",".

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. 21:In page 16, between lines 38 and 39, to insert the following:“(ii) by inserting the following after subsection (3): “(3A) Notwithstanding subsection (3), where— (a) in accordance with section 506, relief is due in respect of an amount subscribed between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2014 as nominee for a qualifying individual by the managers of a...

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

Michael Noonan: The cap is subject to the high earners restriction such that €80,000 was the maximum benefit that could accrue to an individual taxpayer. The argument put forward was that if these restrictions were not included there would be more investment and so for a third year period the cap was increased. We have not considered increasing the cap beyond the €150,000 for those reasons....

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

Michael Noonan: That is the risk we took when we raised the cap from €80,000 to €150,000. These measures are monitored by Revenue. My understanding is that it has worked as intended and there is more investment now, although involving only small amounts of money, all of which are less than €150,000.

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

Michael Noonan: It is not self assessment. To get the relief, one must get approval from Revenue. Revenue knows the high income earners governed by the relief. That is not to say that it would not approve the relief but at least it knows what it is doing. As I said, this measure is monitored by Revenue and reliefs have to be approved individually.

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

Michael Noonan: The tax liabilities of individuals or companies are confidential. We are always reliant on Revenue to look at patterns in situations like this. The Minister for Finance, members of a finance committee or anybody else does not have access to the individual tax details of an individual's liability or a company's liability. The provision put in place on the advice of Revenue is that each...

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

Michael Noonan: I support what Revenue does.

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

Michael Noonan: The section provides that an individual shall not be entitled to relief in respect of any shares unless the shares are subscribed and issued for bona fide commercial purposes and not as part of a scheme of arrangement, one of the main purposes of which is the avoidance of tax. If the Revenue in its prior approval process believes that one of the principle purposes of the investment is the...

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

Michael Noonan: In 2012, €13.4 million was invested in 78 companies by 352 investors in respect of which the cost to the Exchequer was €4 million. In 2013, €42.4 million was invested in 190 companies by 1,028 investors, in respect of which the cost to the Exchequer was €12.4 million. In 2014, €62.7 million was invested in 239 companies by 1,395 investors, in respect of...

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

Michael Noonan: I can throw some light on the Deputy's questions about jobs. Meaningful data in relation to the number of jobs supported should become available in 2016. Under the terms of the scheme, relief in respect of 30% of the amount invested in a qualifying company is granted to the investor in the year of investment. The balance is only due where it has been proven that employment levels have...

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

Michael Noonan: No.

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

Michael Noonan: It is four years.

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

Michael Noonan: We do not have that detail. I am told that several investors would invest in a number of companies.

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

Michael Noonan: The investments are made by funds and they are not separately identified. Therefore we would have to examine each case to have the level of data which the Deputy has talked about

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

Michael Noonan: Yes.

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

Michael Noonan: The investor puts money into a fund in the normal way for the purposes of investing. The fund managers have the knowledge of appropriate and fruitful investments. The target companies are SMEs. It is part of the general incentive package to get investment funds into SMEs. It seems to be working, even though it is a limited scheme.

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

Michael Noonan: I am told that investors can invest directly or they can use a fund, but fund investment seems to be more the practice. That is not to assume that they do not know much about investment. They might think the fund is manned by people who are very good at getting returns on investments.

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

Michael Noonan: The relief is for building an extension to existing nursing homes, rather than for new nursing homes. The justification is that in parts of the country, particularly in certain areas of Dublin, but also in the greater Cork area, there is a shortage of nursing home places. It is an efficient use of a tax incentive to allow for the expansion of existing nursing home facilities rather than...

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

Michael Noonan: No, it is an incentive for investment in extensions to nursing homes.

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

Michael Noonan: The condition is that a nursing home, operating as a nursing home which proposes to build an extension, could use the appropriate funds under this scheme. We had a request from the Minister for Health to help extend the number of available beds in nursing homes to reduce pressure on the health system. We all know we have an ageing population and that nursing homes are part of the...