Results 13,861-13,880 of 32,547 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs Data (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 78 and 79 together. I am advised by Revenue that it is tentatively estimated, without taking account of the potential new employees that may qualify for the Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP) scheme as a result of the reduced limits, the cost to the Exchequer in terms of income tax foregone, based on those who availed of the relief in 2016, would be:...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: It is assumed that the Deputy is referring to dividend income from Irish resident companies. I am advised by Revenue that based on tax returns and the yield from Dividend Withholding Tax for 2016, the replacement of all Income Tax, USC and PRSI on dividend income with a flat rate of taxation of 20% is tentatively estimated to be a loss in the region of €95 million. On the same basis,...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Deduction Systems (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 81 and 82 together. I am advised by Revenue that it is not possible to estimate the cost of expanding the FED scheme to an extra country as there are no data available on the number of taxpayers that might qualify to claim the deduction, or how this might vary depending on what additional country was chosen or the ability of the taxpayers concerned to absorb...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Employment Investment Incentive Scheme Data (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 83 and 84 together. In order to ensure compliance with Article 21 of the Group Block Exemption Regulation ("GBER")(Commission Regulation N°651/2014), the 30% share ownership restriction on connected persons was removed in Finance Act 2017. GBER requires that risk finance aid schemes such as the EII should be restricted to independent private investors...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Data (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Start Up Refunds for Entrepreneurs (SURE) provides a refund of tax paid in the previous six tax years to those previously in PAYE employment, or recently unemployed, where they invest funds into a new company set up by them. I am advised by Revenue that there is no statistical basis on which to estimate the cost of broadening the scheme to self-employed taxpayers as it is not possible to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Registration (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: VAT is governed by the EU VAT Directive (Council Directive 2006/112/EC), with which Irish VAT law must comply. The Directive provides that VAT registration thresholds may only be raised by Member States to maintain their value in real terms, that is, they may only be increased in line with inflation. Our VAT thresholds were increased to their current values, €37,500 for services and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Credits (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 89 to 93, inclusive, together. I am advised by Revenue that statistical information in respect of the Research & Development (R&D) credit is available at link; for all years up to 2017. Regarding Question 89, the estimated cost of increasing the credit to 30% for SMEs (defined here as companies with less than 250 employees) is in the region of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: European Central Bank (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The primary objective of the European Central Bank (ECB) is to maintain price stability within the euro area by implementing monetary policy which is consistent with an inflation rate of below, but close to, 2 per cent over the medium-term. In this regard, the euro area flash headline inflation rate in June was stable at 1.2 per cent. The ECB projects that inflation will remain below target...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Small and Medium Enterprises Supports (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 95 to 100, inclusive, together. The Key Employee Engagement Programme (KEEP) came into effect on 1 January 2018. The aim of the incentive is to support SMEs in Ireland in competing with larger enterprises to recruit and retain key employees, by way of a targeted share option programme. KEEP provides for an exemption from income tax, USC and PRSI on...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Disabled Drivers and Passengers Scheme (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme provides relief from VAT and VRT (up to a certain limit) on the purchase of an adapted car for transport of a person with specific severe and permanent physical disabilities, payment of a Fuel Grant, and an exemption from Motor Tax. To qualify for the Scheme an applicant must be in possession of a Primary Medical...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Disabled Drivers and Passengers Scheme (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme provides relief from VAT and VRT (up to a certain limit) on the purchase of an adapted car for transport of a person with specific severe and permanent physical disabilities, payment of a Fuel Grant, and an exemption from Motor Tax. To qualify for the Scheme an applicant must be in possession of a Primary Medical...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Help-To-Buy Scheme Expenditure (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Help to Buy incentive (HTB) was announced in Budget 2017 and backdated to apply from 19 Jul 2016. I am advised by Revenue that the total cost of the incentive to 31 May 2019, the most recent month for which data are available, is in the order of €177.5 million. I am also advised by Revenue that the cost of the scheme by each year of its operation is as follows: Year Cost...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: State Banking Sector Regulation (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to inform the Deputy that this information is not in the possession of my Department. Furthermore decisions in regards to commercial activities are the sole responsibility of the boards and management of the individual banks which must be run on an independent and commercial basis. The independence of these banks is protected by Relationship Frameworks which are legally binding...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Competitiveness (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Under the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2012, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) has been assigned responsibility for examining and reporting on the appropriateness of the fiscal stance in Ireland. This is in line with the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union. One of its functions under the Act involves IFAC providing an independent assessment...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Union Regulation (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to inform the Deputy that I have had extensive engagement with the credit union sector to date this year. In February, I held a credit union stakeholder engagement event which was attended by the President of the organisation that the Deputy refers to in his question. I also attended and spoke at that organisation's AGM in April. These events provided me with valuable feedback from the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Real Estate Investment Trusts (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 107 and 108 together. In relation to the Deputy's question on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), the rules on REITs in Ireland are set out in Part 25A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 and were introduced by Finance Act 2013. Irish REITs are collective investment vehicles which invest in Irish property. The income and gains from Irish property are not...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Appeals Commission (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 109 and 110 together. The Tax Appeals Commission was established on 21 March 2016. A party to an appeal which is dissatisfied with a Tax Appeals Commission determination on the grounds that the determination is erroneous on a point of law, may require the Appeal Commissioner to state and sign a “case stated” for the opinion of the High Court. A...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland Data (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) is Ireland’s national promotional institution. The purpose of the SBCI is to deliver effective financial supports to Irish SMEs, address gaps and potential failures in the Irish SME finance market, as well as encouraging competition and innovation, and facilitating the efficient and effective use of EU resources and financial...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Proposed Legislation (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As I announced recently, I received the agreement of Government on 18th June to begin the process of drafting heads of a Central Bank Amendment Bill. This follows extensive preparatory work by my officials, in consultation with the Central Bank, over the past year. The next step in the process is engagement by my officials with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to begin drafting...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Proposed Legislation (4 Jul 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The updating of the Investment Limited Partnership (ILP) Act, 1994 is a priority on the Government's legislative programme. The ILP Act has been in use since 1994 and it is widely acknowledged that it needs to be updated to fit the environment and its intended clientele. There have been significant changes in the financial area in the past 25 years and the revisions contained in the...