Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 64: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide overall gross income figures for the restaurant industry sector here in 2008, 2009, 2010 in tabular form as well as figures for the number of persons employed in the restaurant industry sector in 2008, 2009, 2010 in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17347/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the relevant information available on the amount of gross income earned by the restaurant sector is based on personal income tax returns filed by non-PAYE taxpayers and information on profits derived from corporation tax returns for the years 2008 and 2009. The tax year 2009 is the latest year for which the necessary detailed information is available. The gross income from all sources returned by self-employed individuals engaged in restaurant activity for these years was as follows:-

Figures are rounded to the nearest million.

The corresponding trading income returned by companies engaged in restaurant activity for these years was as follows:-

Figures are rounded to the nearest million.

The latest relevant information available in relation to the number of persons employed in the restaurant sector and taxed under the PAYE system is derived from income tax returns filed for the income tax years 2008 and 2009. These represent about 96 per cent of all returns expected at the time the data were compiled for analytical purposes. The figures include PAYE taxpayers who are required to return an income tax return Form 11 where non-PAYE income is greater than €3,174, and do not segregate earnings from the restaurant sector from any earnings they may have from any other source. The number of taxpayers on the relevant tax records for the tax years 2008 and 2009 was as follows: -

Numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred.

The sector identifier used on the tax records is based on the 4 digit "NACE code (Rev. 1)" which is an internationally recognised economic activity code system. The NACE codes are not essential for the assessment and collection of taxes and duties and the correct allocation and maintenance of these codes is subject to the limit of available resources. NACE code classifications on tax records are compiled by reference to the primary area of economic activity reported by individual and corporate taxpayers on their own behalf and the taxes collected are allocated to those codes without reference to the precise economic activity which generated them.

While the accuracy of the NACE codes on tax records is sufficient to underpin broad sector-based analyses there will undoubtedly be some inaccuracies at individual level. This should be borne in mind when considering the information provided. The sectors identified for this reply represent the closest equivalents in the NACE code system to the sectors mentioned in the question.