Results 3,241-3,260 of 45,510 for speaker:Simon Harris

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: The Minister proposes bringing forward an amendment on Report Stage to include the additional requirement for companies to comply with guidelines that will be created by the Minister in consultation with the Revenue Commissioners. The amendment is necessary in order to secure the approval of the European Commission under State aid guidelines on regional aid. We will discuss this on Report Stage.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: With the indulgence of the committee as there is nowhere else to flag this on Committee Stage, the Minister for Finance has asked me to inform the committee that he will be bringing forward another amendment on Report Stage which will be an amendment to provide for tax relief at the marginal rate for expenses incurred by an individual who employs a carer to take care of an incapacitated...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: There is no limit on the amount of nursing home fees that can be claimed under tax relief.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 60: In page 56, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: “Amendment of Part 26 (life assurance companies) and Part 27 (unit trusts and offshore funds) of Principal Act 31. (1) Chapter 6 of Part 26 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in section 730J by substituting the following for paragraph (a): “(a) where the person is not a...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 61: In page 60, to delete lines 23 to 26 and substitute the following: “(2) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), this section shall have effect from 1 January 2015. (b) As respects a company incorporated before 1 January 2015, this section shall have effect— (i) after 31 December 2020, or (ii) from the date, after 31 December 2014, of a change in ownership of the...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: I thank both Deputies. The diverging views on this show the importance of government getting the balance right, which is what we have tried to do. On behalf of the Minister for Finance, I must clarify that he did not mislead the Dáil on the issue. The Minister has always been very clear that the double Irish is not part of the Irish tax offering. It is just one example of the many...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: This is the specific purpose of the amendment, that only companies that are up and running - real companies doing real business - in advance of 1 January can avail of it, rather than shelf companies. We wanted to ensure that real and potential ongoing investment that was at an advanced stage was allowed get to fruition. That certainty and timeframe is important.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: The amendment we propose today deals specifically and comprehensively with that issue.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: I do not believe it is fair to say that he misled the Dáil and that is the point I am making. I am sure the Minister has probably made the same point to the Deputy in debate. This is an evolving situation in the context of international tax laws, the OECD, the BEPS process, EU initiatives -----

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: What the Minister has always made clear, as is clear to me he was trying to do in the comments quoted by the Deputy, is that Ireland on its own cannot solve international tax arrangements. What Ireland can do and is doing under the Minister's leadership is removing the double Irish label and the mismatch that occurred. However, as I said in my opening comments and as the Minister said on...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: Some of the Deputy's language was unfortunate and out of character. The Minister for Finance, in the Deputy's years of dealing with him, has never been known to be disrespectful. He engages, responds and puts his point across forcefully. Not even his own most ardent political opponents would believe the Minister to be a fool. The economic markets looking at Ireland and the turnaround of...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: The Deputy has the right to raise these issues again but parts of them were probably debated earlier. In everyone's interest, I will not return to the issue of multinationals and the contribution they make, except to say that about 250,000 of the ordinary people of whom the Deputy speaks work in foreign direct investment firms in this country. Some of them might live in the Deputy's...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: There is a final point I wish to make on this. Our company residence rules come from 1906 case law. They have been in place since pre-independence. It is not fair to any Irish Government, whatever its view, to suggest people sat down to plan and plot it. It evolved through international mismatches as outlined. This is an attempt to move beyond that. We are co-operating at an...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: Companies need to have a period of time to provide certainty. The amendment we are speaking to limits the ability of companies to pretend to be established in advance of 1 January 2015. One will have read media articles expressing concerns that other companies would open here but there are companies here with substantial employment bases and tax bases. People need certainty in regard to...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: We already had the tax debate and I would argue they pay a lot more tax than the Deputy believes they pay. I will not convince the Deputy on that one but the report might.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 64: In page 60, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following:"Amendment of section 626B of Principal Act (exemption from tax in the case of gains on certain disposals of shares) 39.(1) Section 626B of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after subsection (3):“(3A) For the avoidance of doubt, the treatment of a gain, as not being a chargeable...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 65: In page 62, line 9, to delete "951" and substitute "959I".This amendment relates to section 42 of the Bill. It corrects an incorrect statutory reference in section 42. It is a technical amendment.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 66: In page 62, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:"43.Section 604B of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (1)(a) -(a) by substituting the following for the definition of "agricultural land":" 'agricultural land' means land used for the purposes of farming but does not include buildings on the land;",and (b) in the definition of "relevant period" by...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: It might be useful to put on the record the supplementary briefing material I have. It might give members an understanding of the rationale behind this. The definition of "agricultural land" is being amended to exclude buildings due to concerns for EU state aid compliance. The original definition already excluded farm houses and mansion houses unless they were derelict and unfit for human...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: The European Commission advised the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine that farm restructuring relief, which is currently given to farm buildings, contravenes EU state aid rules. Considering that this was a relief for farm consolidation, if property were to be included, it would be, in the view of the Commissioner, a move away from farming. It would also have to be extended...