Results 24,541-24,560 of 33,175 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Double Taxation Agreements: Minister for Finance (14 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: My recollection is the Revenue Commissioners regularly publish information in which they make available, on an anonymised basis, the effective tax rates available for groups of companies that are based in Ireland. I understand the last time they published this information they indicated our effective tax rate is just below the nominal tax rate of 12.5%. Publications from the Revenue...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Double Taxation Agreements: Minister for Finance (14 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: We are in the final phase of what has been a very good process in finalising the summer economic statement. There is debate and discussion but there is complete agreement on the need to make a higher level of funding available to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to deal with the many grave difficulties and challenges we have in housing. That is what I am doing. I am...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Double Taxation Agreements: Minister for Finance (14 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: All I am doing is trying to ensure we have the right level of spending in place to make progress on a vital issue for our society, economy and all I serve, which is building more homes, making that money available at the right point and in the right way, and given that this is money we will be borrowing, having a careful plan for how that borrowing will be managed. We will get agreement on...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Double Taxation Agreements: Minister for Finance (14 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I will deal with the first question raised. Of course we are going to do all we can to try to deliver a significant increase in the building of homes as quickly as we can. I do not need to tell Deputy Durkan about the step back we have taken in home construction due to the impact of Covid-19. This is why trying to open construction in Ireland safely is so important and that is what we are...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Double Taxation Agreements: Minister for Finance (14 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: It does not but I wish to set out one example to flag one benefit of doing this. Kosovo has double tax agreements with other countries. By virtue of our moving into an agreement with Kosovo, we get consistency versus what is happening with other countries that have double tax agreements with Kosovo. The overall competitiveness benefits are negligible, if any. We are doing this for other...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Double Taxation Agreements: Minister for Finance (14 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I will address the point of geography, our size and where we are located. These are issues I regularly raise when I am involved in discussions regarding the competitive status of Ireland and, for example, the contribution that corporate tax has made to it. I assure Deputy Durkan that I regularly and forcefully make this particular argument. However, in the spirit of candour it is also...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Double Taxation Agreements: Minister for Finance (14 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: The universality of application is a very important question and one which I cannot answer at the moment. It will be an important issue later in the year. A key issue for all in the OECD process is if an agreement is reached, how will it be enforced and when will it be implemented? That is deeply important. If countries will move, they will do so in an expectation that others are doing so...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Double Taxation Agreements: Minister for Finance (14 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: If the Deputy can put her second question to me now, by the time she finishes I might be in a position to answer her first question.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Double Taxation Agreements: Minister for Finance (14 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: The impact of double taxation agreements on developing countries is something we are considering at present. As I said earlier, we are engaged in a process of public consultation on this issue. We have engaged with stakeholders and NGOs, some of which have advanced strong views on this. We are considering different submissions and I hope we will be in a position to be able to draw...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Double Taxation Agreements: Minister for Finance (14 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I will bear in mind the Deputy's suggestion.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Double Taxation Agreements: Minister for Finance (14 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Chairman for his question. We have changed the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 by amending sections 8 to 6 of that Act. This is to allow for agreements to be made with countries with non-governmental entities. This has paved the way legally for engagements with a view to seeing whether an engagement or a conclusion is possible with Taiwan. Those discussions are ongoing at the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: We are not making any change there.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I understand the Senator's need for that clarity. I am giving a commitment to very thoroughly investigating a case for such a change. What I need and will have soon is far more accurate information regarding the scale of this as an issue and the reason it is happening. Even in my analysis of data that is available from elsewhere, there are many reasons vacancy of a property occurs. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Senator for the points he made. I also thank him for his recognition of the value of ensuring those 80,000 homes that have been built and purchased since 2013 come into the perimeter of this tax. It is important once we do this revaluation that we are never in this place again. It raises an important issue of fairness and within local authorities, as the Senator said, it raises...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy. Yes, I am. The spending of this revenue is a matter for local authorities and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, from a policy point of view. Deputy Durkan knows we have put quite some time into reviewing the future of the tax. We have had a debate over many years regarding the future of the local property tax and whether we should revalue or not. I have not become aware...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank Deputy Durkan. I take on board what he is saying, which is why I suggest the sequencing of gathering thorough data on this matter first. This appears to be the sensible first step we should take. As I said in my engagement with Senator Sherlock a few moments ago, there are many reasons a property could be vacant. A number of these reasons could be very understandable from a family...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I seek guidance from the Acting Chairman as to whether or not I should answer that question? I agree with what the Deputy said, but he also put a few questions to me.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for the questions. On the first question regarding where increases are likely to fall, I want to emphasise again that most homeowners will not see an increase and, in terms of those who do, the majority of them will move up one band and, therefore, an increase of €90. As to where they will be, there is no precise answer to that question. It depends on the value of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I will give the exact figures so that I am not inconsistent with the Deputy's information. The figures in the table of information we supplied on where increases will happen indicate that approximately 11% of homeowners will see a decrease, approximately 53% will see no change, approximately 33% will see an increase of one band, and approximately 3% will see an increase of two bands or more....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I am sure that the Acting Chairperson will give the Deputy a little latitude on this. Will the Deputy explain that second question to me again? I know she has raised the issue of orphan structures with me before but she is now raising it in the context of charities. I do not fully understand the question. If she puts it to me again, I will see if I can answer it.