Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour)
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Question 53: To ask the Minister for Finance the position regarding a levy on text messages; if he has pursued such a proposal; the legislation that will be needed to enact such a proposal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14834/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Text messages are currently subject to VAT at 21%. A levy on text messages could have a behavioural impact if it was directly imposed on customers or imposed on the mobile telephone companies and passed on to customers. Thus it is not safe to estimate the potential yield of such a tax from the current level of text message usage.

As such a levy would probably be a Stamp Duty charge, the legislation required would be contained in a Finance Bill as an amendment to the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999.

I am not aware of a similar tax anywhere else in the world and I have no plans to introduce such a tax at this time.