Results 301-320 of 406 for speaker:Charlie McCreevy

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (17 Feb 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that they have the entitlement to make all relevant enquiries in relation to any tax return or statement made to them and, where appropriate, to carry out an audit to verify the accuracy of the return or statement. This applies to returns or statements made by persons claiming to be non-resident as it does for all other taxpayers. Audits and other...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (17 Feb 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 262 and 263 together. Section 13 of the Finance Act 2002 provides that the transfer and appropriation of securities other than ordinary shares to the beneficiaries of an ESOT or APSS in the circumstances of certain takeovers may take place in a manner which preserves the tax benefits to the participants. The point at which income tax is foregone is when the...

Seanad: Finance Bill (Certified Money Bill) 2004: Second Stage. (23 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: The Finance Bill implements the tax changes announced in the budget and provides for a range of other measures. In particular, the Bill includes measures that will continue to foster an environment which will allow Ireland's economy to take advantage of the international recovery as it develops and to sustain employment. The economy is in safe hands and will continue to be so under the...

Seanad: Finance Bill (Certified Money Bill) 2004: Second Stage. (23 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: Gordon Brown announced decentralisation in his budget speech also.

Seanad: Finance Bill (Certified Money Bill) 2004: Second Stage. (23 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: I thank all Senators who contributed to the debate. By way of a general comment, I point out to the House that the budget and its implementation, including the Estimates and tax provisions in the Finance Bill, are part of a strategic approach to our economic development. I agree with Senator McDowell that the economy has shown itself to be resilient and sturdy. Senator Coghlan mentioned that...

Seanad: Finance Bill (Certified Money Bill) 2004: Second Stage. (23 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: As regards stamp duty, first-time buyers and other owner-occupiers pay no stamp duty on new houses up to 1350 sq. ft. On houses bigger than this duty is only paid on a quarter of the total value of the house plus the site or on the site value only. In practice a new house must cost approximately €760,000 for first-time buyers before this duty arises. The Senator also referred to the issue...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2004 [[i]Certified Money Bill[/i]]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (24 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: Senator Mansergh must have taken my speaking notes. However, I will outline why I cannot accept Senator Browne's recommendation. The purpose of this recommendation is the indexation of certain tax credits. Such a move could be costly for the Exchequer depending on the indexation factors in the given year. For example, taking the September figure of 2.9%, representing the fairly modest rate of...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2004 [[i]Certified Money Bill[/i]]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (24 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: The end of February figures as regards capital gains tax are higher than their profile. Senator McDowell will be aware that in 2003 I introduced and published profiled expenditure targets from the various Departments regarding votive expenditure. I also decided to publish estimates from the Revenue Commissioners of profiled taxation receipts for the year. I will explain my main reason for...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2004 [[i]Certified Money Bill[/i]]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (24 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: I can understand that. The Senator will recall the hullabaloo that followed that election, when some eminent commentators went off half-cocked in respect of the expenditure out-turn for 2002. I have spent a great deal of time in the Department of Finance and I have discussed other Departments with my colleagues. It is obvious to me that few people understand all the intricate aspects of the...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2004 [[i]Certified Money Bill[/i]]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (24 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: For the reasons I have outlined, I do not adhere to the principle that we should automatically index bands and allowances. The suggestion has been put forward over the years, but no Minister for Finance of any political persuasion would go along with it. Senator Mansergh has also referred to the reasons for this. In reply to Senator McDowell's question about the figures for the year, we hope...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2004 [[i]Certified Money Bill[/i]]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (24 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: This recommendation proposes to insert a new section into the Bill. The purpose of the new section is to require the Revenue Commissioners to make an annual report to the Houses of the Oireachtas giving in respect of each tax relief — apart from tax reliefs deducted by persons calculating their incomes for tax purposes — details of the numbers availing of the relief, the range of the...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2004 [[i]Certified Money Bill[/i]]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (24 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: We publish them after the Finance Bill.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2004 [[i]Certified Money Bill[/i]]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (24 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: The Senator is certainly one of the few people who read them. I have often quoted the Senator to his colleagues when he often stated that he loved reading the tax strategy group documents because then he knew what the Minister was not going to do.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2004 [[i]Certified Money Bill[/i]]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (24 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: I do not intend that there would be. Anyone who wants the tax strategy group's papers may have them. They are more comprehensive post the publication of the Finance Bill. There may be matters referred to in the lead up to the budget which do not take effect until after the Finance Bill and they then become part of the deliberative process. The only reason for their publication after the...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2004 [[i]Certified Money Bill[/i]]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (24 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: Well known seaside resorts such as Clonakilty, Westport and Achill.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2004 [[i]Certified Money Bill[/i]]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (24 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: It ended up with 15 although it started off with six. The additional nine were introduced on Report Stage, I believe. I know there were an additional seven or eight.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2004 [[i]Certified Money Bill[/i]]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (24 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: The question of compiling or collating statistical information regarding the cost of these reliefs has been on my mind for some time. Section 86 of the Bill makes changes in this regard to allow the compilation of extra statistics on the person's income tax return. This has a history attached to it and much of it is to do with the efficiency, new methodology and changes in practice adopted by...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2004 [[i]Certified Money Bill[/i]]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (24 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: The Senator was proved right. To encourage park and ride facilities I improved the scheme the following year to make it more attractive. Up to today, one person has expressed an interest in this area, but we do not know whether that person is going ahead with it. That is one scheme that has not been a success. While Senator McDowell was sceptical about it, most people would have thought that...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2004 [[i]Certified Money Bill[/i]]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (24 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: I will abolish them.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2004 [[i]Certified Money Bill[/i]]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (24 Mar 2004)

Charlie McCreevy: When a taxation or expenditure scheme has run its course, one must be prepared to do away with it, although that is not always easy to do. For example, we all remember the hullabaloo when I finally abolished the house renewal grant, although it should have been done away with at least ten years earlier.