Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that as liability to income tax is established on the basis of a taxpayer's total taxable income their income tax statistics do not generally distinguish between the amounts of tax that arise from different sources of income. Accordingly the specific information requested by the Deputy is not available.

With regard the second part of the Deputy's question, it is a long-standing practice of the Minister for Finance not to comment in advance of the Budget on any tax or expenditure matters that might be the subject of Budget decisions.

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The cost to the Exchequer of extending the PAYE credit to farmers and the self employed, including proprietary directors, is estimated at €610 million in a full year. The cost of abolishing the PAYE credit and increasing the personal credit by the same amount is estimated at €750 million in a full year. The additional cost would arise because the personal credit is transferable between spouses.

The figures are estimates from the Revenue tax forecasting model using actual data for the year 2004 adjusted as necessary to take account of actual and projected income and employment growth in subsequent years and are rounded to the nearest hundred. A married couple who has elected or has been deemed to have elected for joint assessment is counted as one tax unit.

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that figures are not captured in such a way as to provide a dedicated basis for separately identifying the capital gains tax (CGT) yield from payments made to farmers in respect of lands acquired by local authorities for road widening. Accordingly, the specific information is not readily available and either could not be obtained or could not be obtained without conducting a protracted investigation of the Revenue Commissioners' records.

In the 2003 Budget roll-over relief was abolished for any purpose on gains arising from disposals on or after 4 December 2002. This relief was introduced when CGT rates were much higher than current levels. The abolition of this relief was in accordance with the overall taxation policy of widening the tax base in order to keep direct tax rates low.

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I assume that the Deputy has in mind the re-introduction of roll-over relief. It was announced in the 2003 Budget that no roll-over relief would be allowed for any purpose on gains arising from disposals on or after 4 December 2002. This relief was introduced when CGT rates were much higher than current levels. The abolition of this relief was in accordance with the overall taxation policy of widening the tax base in order to keep direct tax rates low.

Changes to the tax system are considered in the context of the annual Budget and Finance Bill cycle. As the Deputy will be aware, there is already in place a generous package of reliefs that continue to be available exclusively to the farming sector.