Results 5,421-5,440 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: There is always a drift. If Sinn Féin gets into government and the country experiences economic and fiscal difficulties, the €100,000 threshold will start to go down because the Government will need to collect more taxes from people on middle incomes. The Deputy's proposal is positively dangerous.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I would like to return to a question that was asked earlier by Deputy Boyd Barrett, but which I did not answer, unfortunately. As the Deputy said, there are valuable houses in the constituency he represents that are owned by elderly people who do not have incomes that are commensurate with the value of those homes.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: When we introduced the property tax legislation, we deliberately included provisions in it to allow people in such circumstances to defer the property tax. It becomes a charge on the estate rather than on their income. We have allowed for that. People in the circumstances described by the Deputy do not have to pay property tax. Their obligations to the taxpayer can be-----

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: -----fulfilled subsequently because the charge is on the estate.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: It is difficult to estimate these matters because the people commissioning films in Ireland are based abroad and work through Irish associates. I am increasing the limit because it appears to be the case that it was set too low. When I introduced it at €50 million, I promised that I would consider the position in due course. Approximately half of the production costs of a modern...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: It is coming from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and from the Irish film industry. In Ireland, the structure is that there are people here who act as co-producers or agents for production companies abroad, and some of it was coming from at least one of those. I have had no communication that I can recall from a foreign-based production company. It was...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: Anything related.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: It is per project. It is the cap on the budget of a project, and more than one in a year is possible.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: Yes.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I did not consider that and I did not have any advice that such would be of benefit. As I say, I am a little tentative about it. A series is generally regarded as a project. There was no request to do what the Deputy mentions. If we brought it down too low, for example, to small films, they would be an administrative burden on Revenue. The policy idea, coming from the Departments of...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: It might be but that case has not been made to me. I am relying quite a lot on the Irish film industry and those who are active in the area already. I stated in the budget speech that we would review it again in two years time, and we can take those ideas into account then. I would be interested in evidence-based submissions.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I move amendment No. 19:In page 14, line 25, after "2014" to insert "is amended". As amendments Nos. 19 to 21, inclusive, relate to the employment and investment incentive scheme, I propose to take these amendments together. Amendments Nos. 19 and 20 are technical in nature and are designed to correct drafting errors in section 16 of the Finance Bill, which amends Part 16 of the Principal...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I move amendment No. 20:In page 14, to delete line 26 and substitute the following: "(a) in subsection (1)(a)(ii), in paragraph (d) of the definition of "relevant period", by substituting " 'relevant amount' " for " 'average relevant amount' ",".

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I move amendment No. 21:In page 16, between lines 38 and 39, to insert the following:“(ii) by inserting the following after subsection (3): “(3A) Notwithstanding subsection (3), where— (a) in accordance with section 506, relief is due in respect of an amount subscribed between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2014 as nominee for a qualifying individual by the managers of a...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: The cap is subject to the high earners restriction such that €80,000 was the maximum benefit that could accrue to an individual taxpayer. The argument put forward was that if these restrictions were not included there would be more investment and so for a third year period the cap was increased. We have not considered increasing the cap beyond the €150,000 for those reasons....

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: That is the risk we took when we raised the cap from €80,000 to €150,000. These measures are monitored by Revenue. My understanding is that it has worked as intended and there is more investment now, although involving only small amounts of money, all of which are less than €150,000.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: It is not self assessment. To get the relief, one must get approval from Revenue. Revenue knows the high income earners governed by the relief. That is not to say that it would not approve the relief but at least it knows what it is doing. As I said, this measure is monitored by Revenue and reliefs have to be approved individually.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: The tax liabilities of individuals or companies are confidential. We are always reliant on Revenue to look at patterns in situations like this. The Minister for Finance, members of a finance committee or anybody else does not have access to the individual tax details of an individual's liability or a company's liability. The provision put in place on the advice of Revenue is that each...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I support what Revenue does.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: The section provides that an individual shall not be entitled to relief in respect of any shares unless the shares are subscribed and issued for bona fide commercial purposes and not as part of a scheme of arrangement, one of the main purposes of which is the avoidance of tax. If the Revenue in its prior approval process believes that one of the principle purposes of the investment is the...