Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 7, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following:“(4) For the purposes of calculating liability for PRSI on rental income, the same categories of deductible expenditure shall be allowable as may be used to reduce liability for income tax on that rental income.”.

I thought for a moment that we were introducing a much-needed reform from the American Congress where one is only allowed speak for three minutes on an amendment. I wish somebody in the Committee on Procedure and Privileges would consider introducing a similar rule in this House. It would go a long way to making it a more efficient House.

The Minister will be aware that this amendment arose out of discussions on Committee Stage involving my colleague, Senator Power, who was concerned about rental income being taken on the basis of the gross income. As section 3 refers to the extension of PRSI liability to all employed contributors who also have unearned income, and that includes investment income, income from rental properties, etc., Senator Power was concerned that this would have an adverse effect on those who were not landlords by definition but who found themselves in a situation where they were renting out a room or where they had a house they were renting out other than their private principal place of residence. As the amendment states, "the same categories of deductible expenditure shall be allowable as may be used to reduce liability for income tax on that rental income". The argument being put forward was that there are costs involved which are not taken into account in this proposal to extend PRSI onto rental income, that it is taken as a gross figure and does not take account of the costs involved such as running repairs, maintenance, property tax and so on and therefore it is unfair on that category of person who will now find themselves having the PRSI liability extended. The purpose of the amendment is to ensure that rental income would be treated on a net level rather than on a gross basis.