Results 43,221-43,240 of 46,456 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: 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: 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: We have taken a commercial element into consideration. I certainly do not wish to mislead and I am sorry that this has been quite a technical discussion. The Deputy is correct, there are two elements. That is the only way the cost of the refurbishment of the commercial floors could be funded. There is a residential element also.

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

Simon Harris: ----- which is stand-alone.

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

Simon Harris: There are other things that are completely different from what was otherwise anticipated, such as the cap. This scheme has been evolving in the past two years. The concept of the scheme is to get people back to the city. Yes, it is intended to get people living in cities but also to get life back into parts of the city. It is not a scheme that has been drawn up by Department of Finance...

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

Simon Harris: Yes. I will consider the points the Deputy has made. I refer to the points I have made on behalf of the Minister for Finance, in which he outlined directly the requirement for a person to live above the premises. He said that with the benefit of hindsight he has concluded that the restriction is an unnecessary complication which will have little or no effect on the scheme but that the aid...

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

Simon Harris: This brings us back to Deputy McGrath's amendment and whether this scheme should apply to Bray, County Wicklow. It is certainly not ruled out but one has to remember, as Deputy McGrath rightly pointed out, that it is two years since this scheme was initiated and we still have not got EU state aid approval over the line. We are inserting a limit to the relief in the Bill and I hope this will...

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: As I outlined, the rationale behind it is that we have taken out the two-storey over the basement scenario where there had to be a commercial and living spaces. That reality no longer exists.

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

Simon Harris: Yes.

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

Simon Harris: It is allowed in the section once it is not a Georgian house.

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

Simon Harris: Yes, but all we did in this Bill is to take out the two-storey over the basement part.

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

Simon Harris: Yes.