Written answers

Tuesday, 29 November 2011

9:00 pm

Photo of Seán KennySeán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 129: To ask the Minister for Finance the number of persons availing of each tax break or tax relief that remains open; the cost to the Exchequer; his plans to close off any tax reliefs or breaks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37505/11]

Photo of Michael NoonanMichael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the total identifiable costs to the Exchequer of all income tax and corporation tax allowances, reliefs, exemptions and tax credits available are set out in the following tables for 2007 and 2008, the most recent year for which the necessary detailed historical information is available. Relevant notes relating to items in the tables are also included.

Index of Tables and Notes

a) Note on the Cost of Tax Credits, Allowances and Reliefs 2007 & 2008

b) Table IT 6 showing Cost of Tax Credits, Allowances and Reliefs 2007 & 2008

c) Notes on Table IT 6

d) Note on Green Paper on Pensions

e) Estimate of cost of certain property-based tax incentives and incomes exempt from tax for 2007 and 2008

f) Note on reliefs in respect of which costs are not currently quantifiable or are negligible or are not identifiable within total aggregates.

Estimates of the corresponding costs to the Exchequer for years 2009, 2010 and 2011 are not available.

Cost of Tax Credits, Allowances and Reliefs 2007 and 2008

The table IT 6 shows the estimated cost in terms of revenue forgone of the personal tax credits and the main reliefs and deductions allowable under the income tax system. A number of reliefs which apply both to individuals and companies is also included and the cost shown in relation to these reliefs covers income tax and corporation tax.

An adjustment is included in the cost figures applying to income tax to compensate for incomplete numbers of tax returns on record at the time of compiling the estimates.

The tax credits and reliefs listed in the table serve varying purposes. Many are essentially structural reliefs through which individual tax liabilities are adjusted to reflect relative taxable capacity. The main personal tax credits are a good example of this since they may be regarded as part of the progressive income tax structure representing a band of income chargeable at a zero rate. Others, such as relief for interest paid in full or investment in corporate trades, are tax-based incentives in favour of specific groups or activities which are designed to promote certain aspects of public policy.

However, it should be noted that the restriction of reliefs or horizontal measure seeks to restrict the capacity of high earners to reduce their income tax liability to very low levels, or to zero, through the cumulative use of various tax incentives. From the 2010 tax year, high earners that are subject to the full restriction now pay an effective rate of income tax of 30%, on average. This is an addition to PRSI and the Universal Social Charge.

In computing taxable profits, account needs to be taken in some way of the depreciation of capital assets incurred in earning those profits. To this extent, the figures in the table of the "costs" of capital allowances should not be regarded as measuring a "loss of tax revenue" on profits. To compute such "loss", regard would have to be had to the excess of the amount of the capital allowances at current rates over the amount of the normal allowances.

The figures shown for the basic personal tax credits (married, single and widowed) are the costs of these tax credits as if all other tax credits and the exemption limits did not apply. They do not include individuals who are not on Revenue records because their incomes are below the income tax thresholds. The cost figures for the exemption limits are based on the excess of the exemption limits over the basic personal tax credits.

The figures of cost are for 2008 and 2007 and all figures are based on tax due in respect of assessments for each year and not on tax receipts within that year.

The figure against each credit or allowance represents the additional tax which would become payable if the tax credit or allowance were withdrawn assuming no consequent change in the behaviour of taxpayers (for example, in relation to the reliefs for savings), or the amounts of payments (for example, interest payable on certain savings schemes might need adjustment to take account of the new tax liability).

The numbers of claimants of each credit or relief are shown for both years to the extent that they are available. The numbers included are the taxpayers who would be adversely affected by the withdrawal of the respective credit or relief.

In the calculations, each tax credit or allowance has been dealt with separately and on the assumption that the rest of the tax system remained unchanged. It would be therefore inaccurate to calculate the effect of withdrawing all the credits, reliefs and allowances by simply totalling the figures. For example, the costs shown for capital allowances and stock relief are also calculated on the basis of separate withdrawal of these reliefs. Their combined cost would be greater than the sum of the separate costs because allowances are not always fully set off against available profits. For instance, a person with €1,000 gross trading profits, €1,000 capital allowances and €1,000 stock relief would pay no tax if either of the reliefs were withdrawn but would pay tax on €1,000 profits if both reliefs were withdrawn. In this case, the cost of each relief separately is nil but the combined cost is tax on €1,000. Basic data is not available to enable an estimate of the combined cost of these reliefs to be made.

The figures for estimates based on tax returns have been grossed up to an overall expected level to adjust for incompleteness in the numbers of returns on record at the time the data was extracted for analytical purposes.

Apart from the artists exemption, these figures do not take account of the application of the restriction of reliefs originally provided for in section 17 of Finance Act 2006, which took effect from 1 January 2007. The restriction was extended by Section 23 Finance Act 2010.

Finally, the estimates shown in many cases are tentative and are subject to revision in the light of later information.

Income Tax and Corporation Tax

Table IT6 - Cost of Tax Credits, Allowances and Reliefs 2007 and 2008

Tax Relief Provision(1) Estimated Cost for
20072008
INCOME TAX€mNumbers€mNumbers
Exemption limits:
General Exemption (2)0.000.00
Child Addition (2)0.28000.3900
Age Exemption (2)75.351,50090.857,700
Married Person's Credit (3)2,776.7834,9002,944.9853,100
Single Person's Credit (3)2,392.01,552,8002,406.81,503,300
Widowed Person's Credit (3)171.379,500184.381,100
Additional Credit to Widowed Person in Year of Bereavement4.84,0004.94,000
Additional Bereavement Credit to Widowed Parent6.62,4006.92,300
Additional Personal Credit for Lone Parent199.0122,200197.4116,700
Homecarer Credit68.592,20079.593,100
Additional Credit for Incapacitated Child31.711,70039.012,300
Employee (PAYE) Credit3,153.11,732,0003,253.81,710,200
Dependent Relative Credit1.817,6002.018,700
Person Taking Care of Incapacitated Taxpayer4.61,0705.81,260
Age Credit33.782,90042.388,100
Blind Person's Credit2.01,2402.11,320
Medical Insurance Premiums (4)300.31,195,300321.01,322,400
Health Expenses225.7496,300266.8542,600
Contributions Under Permanent Health Benefit Schemes, after Deduction of Tax on Benefits Received (5)3.626,3004.029,200
Employees' Contributions To Approved Superannuation Schemes (6)590.0708,500655.0792,600
Employers' Contributions To Approved Superannuation Schemes (6)150.0364,700165.0362,700
Exemption of Investment Income and Gains of Approved Superannuation Funds ( 6) *900.0N/A685.0N/A
Exemption of employers' contributions to Approved Superannuation Schemes from employee BIK540.0364,700595.0362,700
Tax Relief on "tax free" lump sums (6)130.0N/A140.0N/A
Retirement Annuity Premiums407.9121,300352.8116,000
Personal Retirement Savings Accounts61.146,60073.853,900
Interest paid:
Loans relating to Principal Private Residence542.7720,000704.6778,100
Other ( 7)46.95,30048.55,400
Rent Paid in Private Tenancies82.1206,00096.5222,100
Expenses Allowable to Employees under Schedule E69.8894,40075.2835,900
Third Level Education Fees18.134,50019.936,000
Exemption of Certain Earnings of Writers, Composers and Artists27.42,65021.82,630
Dispositions (Including Maintenance Payments made to Separated Spouses)20.57,22022.37,820
Exemption of Interest on Savings Certificates, National Instalment Savings & Index Linked Savings Bonds130.3N/A88.1N/A
Rent a Room4.73,1805.63,600
Exemption of Income of Charities, Colleges, Hospitals, Schools, Friendly Societies, etc. (8) (10)30.7N/A35.8N/A
Retirement Relief for certain Sports Persons.(9)0.2200.217
Exemption of Irish Government Securities where owner not ordinarily resident in Ireland ( 10) *240.8N/A320.8N/A
Exemption of Statutory Redundancy Payments87.625,00085.429,800
Service Charges24.4413,10027.1455,200
Top Slicing Relief - Reduced Tax Rate for Payments in Excess of Exemption Amounts Made as Compensation for Loss of Office27.83,02044.73,790
Revenue Job Assist allowance0.33600.2330
Allowance for seafarers0.31700.3160
Trade Union Subscriptions20.7316,30026.4341,900
Exemption From Tax of Certain Social Welfare Payments:
Child benefit *355.0347,760435.3401,200
Early childcare Supplement*84.3193,20098.3195,200
Maternity allowance *15.220,95018.223,420
Foster Care Payments29.43,33028.13,470
Exemption of Income arising from the Provision of Childcare Services0.74000.8440
Approved Profit Sharing Schemes *107.698,87099111,180
Savings-Related Share Option Schemes *11.92,6001.32,800
Approved Share Option Schemes *310000.08280
Relief for New Shares Purchased by Employees0.22100.3280
Investment in Corporate Trades (BES)17.51,90055.73,200
Investment in Seed Capital2.3631.756
Stock Relief *2N/A2.0N/A
Relief for expenditure on significant buildings and gardens5.02105.9290
Donation of Heritage items5.344.75
Donation of Heritage property to the Irish Heritage Trust1.973.64
INCOME TAX AND/OR CORPORATION TAX ( 11)
Donations to Approved Bodies47.6110,70052.4131,100
Donations to Sports Bodies.( 9)0.47000.3850
Employee Share Ownership Trusts*4.426,0008.429,200
Total Capital Allowances:( 12)2,019.2270,9002,176.6270,200
Rented Residential Relief - Section 23 ( 13) *133.62,92074.72,429
Effective Rate of 10% for Manufacturing and Certain Other Activities ( 14)406.92,667160.91,046
Double Taxation Relief610.817,600596.518,000
Investment in Films*31.13,00032.83,200
Group Relief254.11,936450.32,430
Research & Development Tax Credit ( 15)165.6479146582

Notes on Table IT6

(1) Figures accompanied by an asterisk * are particularly tentative and subject to a considerable margin of error.

(2) The cost figures for the exemption limits are based on the excess of the exemption limits over the basic personal tax credits. They include the cost of marginal relief for taxpayers whose incomes are not greatly in excess of the exemption limits.

(3) The figures shown for the basic personal tax credits (married, single and widowed) are the costs of these tax credits as if all other tax credits and the exemption limits did not apply. They do not include individuals who are not on Revenue records because their incomes are below the income tax thresholds.

(4) Arising from the change over to Tax Relief at Source the figures relate to the number of policies issued. These include policies where subscriptions were paid by businesses on behalf of their employees.

(5) Part of the cost of contributions to Permanent Health Benefit Schemes is not identifiable as a result of the move to a "net pay" basis for contributions by PAYE taxpayers from 6 April 2001.

(6) See the following note on "Green Paper on Pensions" for background commentary on the basis of the cost figures.

(7) "Other" relates to borrowings for purposes such as acquiring an interest in a company or partnership.

(8) The income on which the cost of exemption for charities, colleges, hospitals, schools, friendly societies, etc. from income tax is based includes repaid income tax that has been deducted at source on dividends, other investment income and payments received under covenant, donations and associated tax relief by the PAYE sector to approved bodies and donations by the self-employed and corporate sectors to approved bodies and approved sports bodies. Information is not available about other income received gross.

(9) The cost figures for relief for donations to Approved Sports Bodies and for certain Sports Persons are based on self assessment returns.

(10) In the absence of other information, tax has been assumed at the standard rate of income tax even though a different rate might be appropriate in many cases.

(11) The costs included for corporation tax are by reference to accounting periods which ended in the years 2007 and 2008.

(12) The cost shown for capital allowances does not include any cost associated with "unused capital allowances", that is, capital allowances which are not absorbed by a company in the accounting period in which they arise because they exceed the amount of the company's profits of that accounting period which are available for offset. Unused capital allowances can be offset as losses against taxable profits arising in the previous accounting period and against certain profits arising in future accounting periods and can be offset against the profits of another company in the same group of companies. It is estimated that €2820 million and €3587 million of unused capital allowances were claimed in respect of 2007 and 2008 accounting periods respectively but as the proportion of this item which is included in previous years losses and in group relief is not separately identifiable a reliable estimate of the cost of the capital allowance element cannot be provided.

(13) The tax cost shown for section 23 type relief is the estimated ultimate tax cost relating to the total allowable expenditure in respect of claims made in 2007 and 2008 tax returns for the first time. The cost shown is for income tax cases only.

(14) The cost shown for manufacturing relief for 2008 is compiled using the basic data available but for technical reasons associated with a system redesign it is understood to be understated by at least €100m.

(15) The costs shown for R&D is for claims for R&D on corporation tax returns for accounting periods ending in 2007 and 2008. However, the cost includes the cost associated with claims where the company was entitled to the credit but was unable to absorb it in that accounting year.

Green Paper on Pensions – Review of Estimates of Cost

As part of the work on the Green Paper on Pensions, a review was carried out of the current regime of incentives for supplementary pension provision with a view to developing more comprehensive and reliable estimates of the cost of reliefs in this area. The review examined, among other things, the current reliefs and incentives for investment in supplementary pensions and the data available on which to base reliable estimates of the costs in revenue foregone to the Exchequer.

The review drew on newly available 2006 aggregate data on contributions to pension schemes by employers and employees arising from a P35 initiative introduced on foot of provisions that were included in Finance Act 2004 with a view to improving data quality. Estimates of the cost of tax for private pension provision updated for 2007 and 2008 are included in table IT6.

The breakdown and make-up of these estimated costs of reliefs differ from presentations of costs in this area for years prior to 2005 in a number of respects and are not directly comparable. Further details on the cost of tax and other reliefs and the changes in the methodology are contained in pages 106 and 107 of the Green Paper on Pensions which is available at www.nationalpensionsframework.ie.

Certain property-based tax incentives and incomes exempt from tax - uptake and estimated potential cost to the Exchequer in terms of income tax and corporation tax forgone based on 2007 and 2008 tax returns

Provisions were included in the Finance Acts of 2003 and 2004 to enable new statistical data on the uptake of tax relief for certain property-based tax incentives and incomes exempt from tax to be obtained from tax returns. This information, derived from changes introduced by the Revenue Commissioners to income tax returns and corporation tax returns for 2007 and 2008, is set out in the following tables.

The figures shown include the amounts claimed in the year but exclude amounts carried forward into the year either as losses or capital allowances, and include any amounts of unused losses and/or capital allowances which will be carried forward to subsequent years.

2007 Tax Incentive/Income ExemptionAmount Claimed€mAssumed maximum tax cost€mNumber of claimants
Urban renewal280.0109.33,501
Town Renewal86.134.61,128
Seaside Resorts20.38.01,231
Rural Renewal121.948.62,807
Multi-storey car parks24.09.6147
Living Over the shop8.03.093
Enterprise Areas7.02.8137
Park and Ride3.31.433
Holiday Cottages30.712.4832
Hotels307.1118.01,893
Nursing Homes45.318.3687
Housing for the Elderly/infirm6.32.6166
Hostels1.80.7224
Guest Houses0.10.028
Convalescent Homes1.20.527
Qualifying Private Hospitals29.612.1330
Qualifying sports injury clinics4.31.859
Buildings Used for certain childcare purposes24.29.8420
Qualifying Mental Health Centres0.00.01
Student Accommodation108.742.0941
Exemption of profits or gains from Greyhounds0.40.113
Exemption of profits or gains from Stallions59.611.2226
Exemption of profits or gains from Woodlands21.88.51,886
Exempt Patents (Section 234, TCA 1997)528.290.91,251
Totals1,719.8546.517,841
2008Tax Incentive/Income ExemptionAmount Claimed€mAssumed maximum tax cost€mNumber of claimants
Urban renewal224.684.53,271
Town Renewal60.523.7965
Seaside Resorts14.55.71,051
Rural Renewal84.634.22,634
Multi-storey car parks16.86.6136
Living Over the shop6.12.581
Enterprise Areas6.22.5138
Park and Ride1.70.719
Holiday Cottages26.810.8833
Hotels300.6114.71,966
Nursing Homes47.619.4725
Housing for the Elderly/infirm7.43.0179
Hostels1.620.6621
Guest Houses0.30.1110
Convalescent Homes1.30.533
Qualifying Private Hospitals30.212.3340
Qualifying sports injury clinics3.71.558
Buildings Used for certain childcare purposes29.912.0511
Qualifying Mental Health Centres0.10.03
Student Accommodation58.022.7790
Caravan Camps1.50.610
Mid Shannon Corridor Tourism Infrastructure1.80.712
Exemption of profits or gains from Greyhounds0.00.09
Exemption of profits or gains from Stallions91.414.8183
Exemption of profits or gains from Woodlands49.413.02,357
Exempt Patents (section 234, TCA 1997)187.250.21,184
Totals1,302.4455.018,089

These figures do not take account of the application of the restriction of reliefs originally provided for in section 17 of Finance Act 2006 and which took effect from 1 January 2007. The restriction was extended by Section 23 Finance Act 2010.

Notes:

- The figures shown relate to the various reliefs/incentives and exemptions as specified in the 2007 and 2008 form 11 and CT1.

- There were concerns that in some instances the new, separately categorised data on property incentives may not have been correctly entered on the Tax returns. Revenue drew the attention of the relevant tax practitioner bodies to these deficiencies to rectify them in future returns and also increased awareness among its own staff involved in processing tax returns of the need to ensure, through closer examination of the returns, that they are correctly completed.

- The estimated costs have assumed tax foregone at the 41% rate in the case of income tax and 12.5% in the case of corporation tax. This means the figures shown correspond to the maximum Exchequer cost in terms of income tax and corporation tax. However, the actual Exchequer cost could be lower, particularly in relation to the exempt income items, as the income could be subject to deductions for allowable expenses and other costs thereby reducing the level of income that would be actually subject to tax.

- Some of the costs shown above are included in the costs shown for capital allowances and section 23 relief in Table IT6. For example, exempt income included above is not part of capital allowances.

Reliefs in respect of which costs are not currently quantifiable or are negligible or are not identifiable within total aggregates:

-Relief from averaging of farm profits;

-Exemption for income arising from payments in respect of personal injuries;

-Exemption of certain payments made by Haemophilia HIV Trust;

-Exemption of lump sum retirement payments;

-Relief for allowable motor expenses;

-Tapering relief allowable for taxation of car benefits in kind;

-Reduced tax rate for authorised unit trust schemes;

-Reduced tax rate for special investment schemes;

-Exemption of certain grants made by Údarás na Gaeltachta;

-Relief for investment income reserved for policy holders in life assurance companies;

-Relief for various business related expenses such as staff recruitment, rent, legal fees, and other general expenses;

-Exemption in certain circumstances on the interest on quoted bearer Eurobonds;

-Exemption of payments made as compensation for loss of office;

-Exemption of scholarship income.

There are a number of different tax expenditures within the Irish taxation system. These have been introduced for a number of different reasons: providing a basic level of income before taxation; correcting market failure or attracting mobile investment. The Commission on Taxation in its 2009 report made a comprehensive study of all tax expenditures. The full report is available on the Commission's website at www.commissionontaxation.ie.

It should be noted that the data in the above tables includes costs for certain tax expenditures which have since been withdrawn (e.g. trade union subscriptions, relief for new shares purchased by employees) or restricted (e.g. health expenses, loans relating to principal private residence, tax relief on "tax free" lump sums). "Legacy" property-based tax relief schemes, due to their nature, continue to impose ongoing costs on the Exchequer in terms of tax foregone.

All tax reliefs and incentives are reviewed regularly, in line with the annual Budget and Finance Bill process.

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