Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 169: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if the stamp duty exemption which applies to first time purchasers of dwelling houses here will apply to a couple who are returning to Ireland from the United States having not previously purchased a dwelling house for their own use and occupation here, and in the context where one of the people concerned is an Irish citizen and the other is a US citizen; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23347/07]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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To avail of first-time buyers relief, all the parties to the purchase must be first-time buyers. A first-time buyer is a person

(a)who has not on any previous occasion, either individually or jointly, purchased or built on his/her own behalf a house (in Ireland or abroad) and

(b)where the property purchased is occupied by the purchaser as his/her only or principal place of residence and

(c)where no rent, other than rent under the rent-a-room-scheme, is derived from the property for five years after the date of the current purchase.

The citizenship of a purchaser is not an issue for the purposes of availing of this relief.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 170: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the circumstances in which a bet is subject to duty and value added tax; and the definition of the tax base in each case; and if this changes depending on whether the bet is done electronically, on the high street or through a betting exchange. [23367/07]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Bets placed with bookmakers in the State are liable to betting duty at 1%. However, an exemption applies to bets accepted by on-course bookmakers at horse-race or greyhound race meetings but the exemption does not extend to bets accepted by on-course bookmakers by any means of telecommunications. Bets placed with the Tote are also exempt from betting duty. Bets placed with bookmakers outside the State are not liable to betting duty. Most providers of internet betting are based outside the State.

With the exception of bets entered into by an on-course bookmaker by any means of telecommunications, the means by which a bet is placed or accepted does not affect the duty payable on that bet. Under current betting legislation, betting exchanges are not deemed bookmakers. They differ from bookmakers in that they facilitate the matching of bets between outside parties unlike a bookmaker who takes the bet and the associated risk involved. Bets entered into or accepted through an exchange are not liable to betting duty.

VAT is a Community tax and Irish VAT law must comply with the relevant EU requirements. Article 135(1)(i) of the VAT Directive 2006 (formerly Article 13B(f) of the Sixth VAT Directive) provides that Member States must exempt betting, lotteries and other forms of gambling from VAT, subject to conditions and limitations laid down by each Member State. That measure has been transposed into Irish law by paragraphs (xv) and (xvi) of the First Schedule to the Value-Added Tax Act 1972, as amended, which provide that licensed betting, betting on the Tote and lotteries are exempt from VAT.