Results 941-960 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Code (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: In Ireland our corporation tax system is statute based. The reliefs, exemptions and credits the Deputy refers to are clearly defined in law and consistently applied. We have transposed the EU minimum tax directive and we will apply the minimum effective rate in line with the requirements of that directive and in line with the legislation that we have passed which is now consistent with that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Code (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: The Irish funding landscape has undergone significant change since the global financial crisis in 2008. In order to address the current imbalance between supply and demand of housing across all tenure types, the Government's Housing for All plan aims to significantly increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 units per year over the next decade. This is an ambitious plan which...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Code (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: As the Deputy will be aware, the Government is undertaking an overall review of the fund sector, including a review of many of the issues he raised today. I expect that work to be completed by the summer. I will have a report and that will feed into the budget process for 2025 and the finance Bill that will be brought forward later this year. However, I will make an overall point that I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Code (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: I will examine the Bill the Deputy has brought forward. It is important to put on record that in the case of the IREF structure, approximately €170 million has been paid in IREF tax in the three years for which I have data here, 2019, 2020 and 2021. As the Deputy will be aware, in the past three years, some €40 million of tax has been paid in respect of the additional stamp...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Business Supports (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: The tax debt warehousing scheme offered valuable and practical liquidity support to businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic and continues to support businesses as they recover from the impacts of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. It assisted businesses with their cash flow in recent years, during difficult trading periods and certainly has, in many cases, prevented business...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: EU Directives (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Deputy. As is normal when there is a European Court of Justice judgment that impacts policy or the application of EU law in Ireland, the line Department consults the Attorney General. That is what happened in this case, and that formed the basis of the statutory instrument that was introduced and ultimately signed into law. I am a very strong supporter of transparency in these...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: EU Directives (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: The Deputy makes the fair point that there are different interpretations of the ECJ judgment across member states. That is the case. As we would be expected to do, we consulted the Government’s legal officer. We received advice and it was on that basis that the statutory instrument was devised. There has been no policy decision and there is certainly no policy intent to restrict...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Reliefs (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: I thank Deputy Crowe. The VAT rating of goods and services is subject to the requirements of EU VAT law, with which Irish VAT law must comply. In general, the EU VAT directive provides that all goods and services are liable to VAT at the standard rate unless they fall within categories of goods and services specified in Annex III of the VAT directive, in respect of which member states may...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Reliefs (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: The matter is complex, as the Deputy gathered from the reply. We do have to comply with the EU VAT directive. The key principle is that similar products are treated in a similar manner for VAT purposes. We could make a policy decision in Ireland to reduce the VAT on certain gluten-free products but we would also have to do it for the non-gluten-free equivalents. That is where we have...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Reliefs (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: I understand the points the Deputy has made. Let me put on record the tax reliefs available for gluten-free products. I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that section 469 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for tax relief for an individual who proves he or she has incurred costs in respect of qualifying health expenses. Only health expenses incurred in the provision of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tax Reliefs (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: This gives a total cost for the rent tax credit in 2024 in our budget documentation of €288 million.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tax Reliefs (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Deputy. This is a measure designed, principally, to retain investment in the private rental sector. The trend in recent years has been very clear. The evidence is there for everyone to see. Over the past year, more than 24,000 notices of termination have been received, and 14,500 of these were stated as being due to the landlord selling the property. Some 60% of all notices...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tax Reliefs (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: The logical extension of the Deputy's position is that if he was in Government and was the Minister for Finance, he would only introduce measures that were fully supported by the officials in his Department.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tax Reliefs (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: This is the thrust of what he is saying.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tax Reliefs (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: In the context of that scenario, the Deputy should be prepared to find that the vast majority of his taxation proposals, which comprises up to €3 billion of new tax proposals, will not meet with the support of the officials in the Department of Finance. The thrust of what he is saying, therefore, is that he is going to drop those proposals and not go ahead with them. In that...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tax Reliefs (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: There is no point in having an elected Government-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tax Reliefs (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: The elected Government considers all the advice and all the issues and then makes policy decisions. On the issue of deadweight, the Deputy should look at some of his own proposals. For example, he wants to get rid of the local property tax. Where is the deadweight in removing a charge from many people who are well able to afford to pay it? Where is the deadweight in the Deputy's proposal...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tax Reliefs (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: The Deputy, therefore, should be very careful about getting up on his high horse because it will all rebound on him at some point in the future if he is privileged enough to be elected to government.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tax Reliefs (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: I can. The Deputy's tax package will fall away.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: EU Directives (1 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Deputy for the question. In November of 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union, ECJ, ruled in joined cases C-37/20 and C-601/20 that a provision of the EU anti-money laundering, AML, directive under which information on the beneficial ownership of corporate and other legal entities held in central registers must be provided to the general public is invalid. The court...