Results 41,961-41,980 of 46,260 for speaker:Simon Harris
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: No.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: Why would one limit substantive research and development?
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: To stop research and development.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: It goes back to the point that, first, one can only apply the knowledge development box to a fraction of the patent and it only applies to the profits that originate from that fraction. That is the control. I do not see why there is a need for an upper limit on the amount one invests in terms of developing patents and copyrights in this country and the proportion of that one makes a profit...
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for the amendment. Under the internationally agreed approach for country-by-country reporting, the reports filed and shared with the tax authorities must remain confidential. The OECD and other countries involved in agreeing the BEPS report have been clear about it. The nub of the reason I cannot accept the amendment arises from the fact that if Revenue was to make these...
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: I have an open mind, as does the Minister, on the issue of public country-by-country reporting.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: No, we will not go there. The Deputy might use the term "dispassionate", but I am concerned about facts. I will outline what would happen if we accepted his amendment today. We have worked hard to arrive at this point where we are about to legislate for country-by-country reporting, which I think the Deputy would recognise is a step forward, and our tax authorities are about to receive...
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: Yes, and every other Deputy in the House. My exchange today has been with Deputies Tóibín and Boyd Barrett. They have rightly highlighted the need for certain information to be available to Revenue and have expressed concerns about the lack of information available. Extra information will be available to the Revenue Commissioners and other tax authorities that we did not have...
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: I thought that was quite a political answer.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: It is quite prudent.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: Let me be very clear on my position because I do not want the Deputy to misrepresent it. I will be clear on the Government's position in rejecting his amendment, which is what we are debating. If we passed his amendment he would make sure the Revenue Commissioners would have less information available to them to make important decisions on behalf of the Irish taxpayer. That is why I am...
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: That is exactly where I stand on the Deputy's amendment. He is asking me-----
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: Deputy Tóibín has asked me a follow-up question which I am very happy to answer, although it is not directly linked to his amendment which we cannot support. We will wait and see the outcome of the impact assessment, but I remain to be convinced about the benefit of taxpayer information being publicised. I want to have an independent and robust tax authority that has all the...
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: If we decide we are going to make public confidential tax information, we are giving every other tax authority absolute and justifiable reasons not to give us the information the Revenue Commissioners need. That is where we stand.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: In what regard have they blackmailed us?
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: Of whom are we afraid?
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: I presume, and maybe I should not, that all Deputies welcome the agreement at OECD level on country-by-country reporting that this State will, hopefully in the coming weeks, put into law through this Finance Bill. It will empower the independent taxation authority - the Revenue Commissioners - to have information available to it. The Deputy was at pains to point out examples of where such...
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: Let me clarify. The OECD BEPS process agreed country-by-country reporting on the condition that the information remained confidential, as all taxpayers' information remains. If the Oireachtas decides to make such information public, it will untangle the BEPS agreement and allow other taxation authorities not to give that information to the Revenue Commissioners because we are not in...
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: In fairness to the Deputy, his support was "ish".
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2015)
Simon Harris: There is an ongoing EU process as well as an impact assessment. Let us see where they go. I will make a point about HSBC because the Deputy was not factually correct. The Committee of Public Accounts probably received information regarding HSBC, but it is important to point out that there were three prosecutions in this country in respect of issues arising from that situation. My...