Results 23,401-23,420 of 32,864 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Other Questions: Tax Code (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I outlined the way in which tax was paid by those who benefited from the funds, depending on where they were resident.

Other Questions: Tax Code (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I am well aware of the difficulties and challenges people face in the housing market across the country, whether they are looking to buy, living in rental accommodation or worried about the direction their rent is taking. I am as aware of them as the Deputy.

Other Questions: Tax Code (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: What I do not need from the Deputy every time an effort is made by the Government to try to address the housing issue, for example, we made over €5 billion available to be invested in the provision of social housing is it being condemned as being insufficient by Sinn Féin which at no time explains to us from where we will get the additional resources.

Other Questions: Tax Code (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: What I have done is acknowledge the role REITs can play in dealing with the issue of housing supply. REITs, in particular, play a role in the release of commercial property which we also need. I have clearly outlined how income generated from REITs is taxed. It is taxed in different ways, depending on where one is resident. There is also the dividend withholding tax which has not been...

Other Questions: Tax Code (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As much as I appreciate the Deputy's interruptions, it would be helpful if he were to make these points in the time available to him, but I will continue to do my best to answer the last set of questions he asked. We have put in place measures aimed at boosting supply, while recognising the difficulties people face in the housing market. Like any taxation or policy measure, they will always...

Other Questions: NAMA Operations (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The pending implementation of the 2014 revised EU audit directive and regulations which underpin the Deputy’s question was first brought to the attention of my officials in the Department of Finance in respect of the potential impact for NAMA in May 2016 by officials within the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, who are responsible for transposing the...

Other Questions: Tax Code (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 53 together. A real estate investment trust or REIT is a quoted company used as a collective investment vehicle to hold rental property. A REIT is exempt from corporation tax on qualifying income and gains from rental property subject to a high profit distribution requirement. A REIT provides the same after-tax returns to investors as direct...

Other Questions: Tax Code (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I will not begin a practice here of commenting on the tax affairs of any individual company. That is a matter for the company. What I will comment on is the overall tax treatment of REITs and similar entities. What neither Deputy pointed out in their analysis of the issue is the fact that because of how they are structured, REITs are required to return 85% of their yield or profit to...

Other Questions: Tax Yield (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 22 and 60 together. Given overall tax performance, I assume the Deputy is referring to income tax, which has performed steadily in the first six months of 2017.  It is up 3.1% or €274 million on the same period last year. However, income tax receipts of €9,045 million, or just over €9 billion, were slightly behind profile, down...

Other Questions: Tax Yield (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I had hoped that in the Deputy's supplementary question to me there would be an acknowledgement that in the figures produced yesterday, which looked at the half year, we have seen an improvement in many of the tax heads versus where we were last year and versus the targets that we have for this year. In particular, in June we saw a number of the tax heads that are particularly important in...

Other Questions: Tax Yield (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Over the last number of weeks that I have been in this role, the Revenue Commissioners have not raised the matter with me to date. However, I will be meeting them directly in the coming days and will raise the matter with them to see if there is a cause for concern in the way the Deputy has outlined. As we know, the Revenue Commissioners impartially implement all the laws that we have...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: National Debt Servicing (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: It is precisely because of the scale of debt we have that the Government has made the decision, as we are gaining money back from our banking system through the sale of a quarter of AIB, for example, to put the money back into reducing our national debt. Being in a position where our national debt grows in an unsustainable way is a threat not only to future generations but also to the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Tax Avoidance (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I assume the Deputy is referring to a recent Circuit Court decision regarding the tax treatment of the transfer of share rights from a company to its shareholders. I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that section 130(3)(a) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides that the transfer of an asset by a company to its members constitutes a distribution for tax purposes. In regard to the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Tax Avoidance (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The answer to the question is contained in the Deputy's own statement. Look at what happened. The Revenue Commissioners became aware of a matter and issued amended tax assessments in regard to it. A challenge was brought to the appeals commissioner and the Revenue Commissioners won. They were then brought to the Circuit Court, where they also won. There was a further appeal. That appeal...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Tax Avoidance (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: This matter is being tackled and dealt with by the Revenue Commissioners. There would be a plausible case to make that the law needs to be changed if the Revenue Commissioners were losing the appeals or losing their case in the Circuit Court, but they are not. The law and the way the Revenue Commissioners are acting are being upheld by the recent rulings in the way that I have described to...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: National Debt Servicing (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I presume the Deputy is referring to EU-IMF programme-related debt when he asks about renegotiation. This debt accounts for about one quarter of Ireland’s total debt. My Department, in conjunction with the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, is constantly looking to avail of any appropriate opportunity for savings on the cost of our EU-IMF programme loans and the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: National Debt Servicing (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Greece is still in a bailout programme. It is involved in reducing spending on public services and investment, as well as changing public pensions. We have all that behind us. We have made those changes. We are out of a bailout programme and we are now in a position in which we are able to fund our own debt on a day-to-day basis. We are seeking to pay back money we secured in a bailout...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Universal Social Charge (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I am sure the Deputy will agree with me that our current system of personal taxation, including as it does three separate charges on income, through income tax, USC and PRSI, each with different income bases, reliefs and manners of assessment, is overly complex. It can be difficult for individuals to understand the personal tax system has the potential to lead to an increase in employment...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Universal Social Charge (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As is the case in advance of all budgets, I have asked my officials to prepare papers examining a range of policy options for the short and medium term, and I will consider these in detail in advance of budget 2018.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Universal Social Charge (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I will not take any lectures from Sinn Féin on economic competence or economic policy-making. At present, we see the State in a position where it is able to invest back in public services, such as the 975 additional special needs assistants the Minister, Deputy Bruton, will confirm this afternoon, precisely because of a change in our economic circumstances that Sinn Féin said would...