Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 120: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will estimate the likely 2010 and full year yield from the levy on non-residents for tax purposes, as announced in budget 2010 and set out in the 2010 Finance Bill; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11648/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I assume that the levy to which the Deputy refers is the Domicile Levy which I announced in Budget 2010, full details of which have set out in the Finance Bill, which is currently at Report Stage in this House. The Deputy will be aware that the Domicile Levy is charged on an individual who is Irish-domiciled and an Irish citizen whose world-wide income exceeds €1m, their Irish-located property is greater than €5m, and their liability to Irish income tax was less than €200,000.

In the Bill, it is provided that the Levy applies for the tax year 2010 and that it is payable on a self-assessment basis on or before 31st October in the year, following the valuation date which is 31st December of each year. The first such valuation date will be 31st December of 2010 so that the first due payment of the Levy will be on or before 31st October of 2011. Therefore, it is not possible to provide an estimate for 2010 because it will not arise in that year.

In regard to a potential full year yield, the Deputy will be aware that I have previously indicated in a reply on 3rd February, 2010 on this topic to Deputy Shortall that it is not possible to estimate the number of non-residents that this measure will affect. This was because many of the individuals who declare on their tax return that they are non-resident in the State do not have an Irish address. Many of these non-residents are foreign nationals or have a foreign domicile; and many of the non-resident Irish citizens or Irish domiciled individuals included in this figure may have become non-resident for reasons unrelated to taxation, but have retained Irish investments (such as rental property).

I am informed by Revenue that for the 2007 tax year (the latest year for which figures are available), 7,228 non-resident individuals filed Irish tax returns in respect of their Irish-source income or income derived from working here. The total amount of tax paid by these persons was c €43 million. For the 2006 tax year, 5,993 non-resident individuals filed Irish tax returns in respect of their Irish-source income or income derived from working here. The total amount of tax paid by these persons was €44.5 million.

The equivalent figures for 2008 are not yet available. Returns for 2008 were due by 31 October 2009 or, in the case of returns made on ROS (Revenue Online System), by 16 November 2009. The data capture of information of these returns is currently under way and when completed will facilitate the compilation of statistics for 2008.