Results 3,301-3,320 of 35,540 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: I thank the Minister for taking me through that.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: Section 17 relates to retirement annuity contracts, RACs. I have a specific question. No new contract can be approved after 1 January of next year. What happens to the existing RACs that have been approved? Can top-ups still be applied? Can they continue to make contributions and benefit from the existing criteria?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: Will the Minister outline the rationale behind this measure?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: Under this proposal the fund still vest at what age?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: Is it 75 or 70?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: When does the vesting happen in relation to this?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: There have been changes to this legislation which dealt with some aggressive tax planning that was taking place with these funds where individuals did not draw down from the fund and therefore what was in the fund was passed on to a relative after death. It was a very aggressive tax incentive and it was closed down by the former Minister Michael Noonan, if memory serves me right. The issue...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: No. Three things happened to create a disincentive to hold on to a PRSA until the age of 75. The first was a crystallisation event. The second was the imputing. The third was that the person was locked out. However, if the person is no longer locked out, is the Minister not taking away one of the big disadvantages from this type of tax planning? We need to bear in mind that many people...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: The whole point of the third element whereby the person was locked out was to try to get them to draw down from this vehicle earlier than the age of 75. That was the original intention. That was the third part of it.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: That is the whole point. People should draw this down before the age of 75. There are no restrictions on somebody drawing it down at the age of 74.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: Will the Minister facilitate discussion on this if needed on Report Stage because there will be no amendment coming forward?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: I will table an amendment.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: This year, landlord tax relief is provided for. We talked about mortgage interest relief earlier and how the Minister would lock out 130,000 people with his proposal. It is important to remember that landlords are able to avail of mortgage interest relief of 100%. The Minister has brought forward a proposal that provides twice as much money to landlords as to tenants, a proposal that...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister claims that he believes taxation is one of the reasons those with rental properties are leaving the market. I would say he is on his own, because I would say none of his officials agrees with that. The fact is that the tax on landlords' rental income has not increased over the past decade. It has decreased. Does the Minister accept that? As a starting point, can we begin on...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: Let us be clear. The Minister makes the valid point that landlords are getting more income so they are paying more tax. That is not what I am talking about. I am talking about tax rates. The amounts landlords are now paying as a result of either thresholds being changed, tax credits being introduced or offsets being increased has all favoured a tax reduction as opposed to a tax increase,...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: Going back to my original-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: With respect, we are not.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: We are going to take our time to deal with this section because it is a really important section.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: Okay. The Minister made the point that he believes tax is an issue for landlords leaving the sector. I asked him this question and I am going to ask it again. Does he accept that, regarding taxation for landlords, the effective tax rate has reduced in the past decade? Does he accept that or not?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister for Finance is sitting opposite me and, no harm to him, will not even tell this committee what is an undisputed fact. The effective tax rate for landlords has reduced in the past ten years. That is a fact. The Minister will not admit that because it challenges his measure. It challenges what he said. It challenges the rationale where he said tax is a reason landlords are...