Results 24,761-24,780 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: I am arguing, as the Deputy agreed earlier, that a narrowing of the tax base over a period - where significant amounts of money would be involved - would leave us open to the kind of shocks we were open to when the previous Government but one narrowed the tax base during the Celtic tiger era. Although that Government thought it had the resources to do so, transactional taxes, particularly...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: Some 42% would be outside completely on the basis of this. What was the figure?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: They are €335 million in the first year and €390 million in a full year. I agree with the Deputy's approach. The Government's approach is that as the economy grows, there is extra tax buoyancy. Between 2016 and 2017, this amounts to about €2.5 billion. This will be used to improve public services and reduce personal taxes. By and large, that is what the Government's...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: A substantial amount of analysis covering some of the groups listed by the Deputy has already been published or is due to be published shortly. This week, the Department of Social Protection will publish the social impact assessment of the welfare and income tax measures in budget 2017, presenting the overall distributional impact of the budget by income group and family type. It will also...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: One third.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: I am providing for an increase of €400 in the earned income credit bringing it up to a value of €950. The €400 increase gives a benefit of more than €7 a week to those eligible for the credit, in addition to the benefits they receive from other elements of the budget package such as the USC reductions. In view of the limited resources available in budget 2017 and...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The programme for Government contains a commitment to continue the phasing out of USC in the medium term and, as part of this process, to consider the removal of the PAYE tax credit for high earners to limit the benefit to them of the phasing out. This is included to ensure fairness and remove a scenario where there would be a disproportionate benefit for higher earners. Therefore, one...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: Section 5 introduces a new tax credit for fishermen which is aimed at assisting the viability of the fishing sector and attracting and retaining workers in the industry. The tax credit is worth €1,270 and available to active fishers which I understand is a new gender neutral word to describe fishermen and fisherwomen who spend at least 80 days a year at sea engaged in fishing for wild...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: I agree. The amendment is drafted sufficiently closely to achieve that end. We can agree it as drafted.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The credit is ade minimiscredit. This refers to the state aid guidelines, which hold that if a tax relief is below a certain limit, it does not require approval in advance. The de minimis limit for the fisheries sector per undertaking is €30,000 over any period of three fiscal years. This compares to the de minimis limit of €15,000 over three years for agriculture. This...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: As Deputies may be aware, the marine taxation review was completed by Indecon late last year. This has already been referenced by a number of Deputes. The report was submitted to the Departments of Finance; Agriculture, Food and the Marine; Transport, Tourism and Sport; and Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. The review followed from the agri-tax review that was completed the previous year...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The general position is that these special provisions for sportspersons are related to the short period during which a sportsperson is active. The reliefs available would not apply to taxpayers in general who have a full working career of 35 or 40 years. According to the note provided to me, the sportsperson's relief is based on ten previous years of earnings, during which the sportsperson...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: As different reliefs are available in different jurisdictions, I cannot answer the question in terms of detail.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: Yes, but normally someone who comes here from South Africa, New Zealand or another jurisdiction would not have a ten-year earning period here. He or she tends to have a contract of a maximum of a few years. The Acting Chairman knows how the system operates.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The relief applies to earnings which arise directly from participating in the sport in question, namely, prize money, appearance money, salaries, fees and similar payments. Relief is not given for indirect payments arising from sponsorship, endorsements, advertisements or other indirect payments the sportsperson may receive because of his or her status as a public figure.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: All income tax is paid but it can be reclaimed on retirement from the sport.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The sportsperson can claim back anything earned in terms of prize money, appearance, salaries, fees and similar payments but cannot get relief on endorsements, sponsorship or advertisements or any of what we would regard as the big money associated with very well paid sports such as golf.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: A percentage limit applies. The relief applies to 40% rather than 100% of prize money. In addition, PRSI and USC are generally chargeable on the income before the relief is granted.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: It is 40% across the line, from prize money, salaries and the other categories I listed.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The reason underpinning this proposed change is that up to now if a sportsperson paid money into a retirement annuity contract, RAC, that person got the relief that I described previously. If, however, the person paid the equivalent amount into a personal retirement savings account, PRSA, he or she did not get the relief. It is to give the same relief to people who contribute to PRSAs as to...