Dan Neville (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Finance his views on whether the same system that operates for farmers should also operate for agricultural contractors who do more than 50% of the farm machinery work on farms such as silage cutting, hedge cutting, round bailing, slurry spreading and ploughing, planting and harvesting of crops and so on, agricultural contractors are looking for the same system that prevails for farmers that is, that is, that they be allowed to have rebated as double taxation on their income tax the carbon tax and agricultural diesel. [53632/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I assume that the Deputy’s question relates to the double deduction for carbon tax on farm diesel which I provided for in Finance Act 2012. Under this provision, farmers are allowed a deduction in computing their farming profits or losses for the amount of additional carbon tax they incur on purchases of farm diesel following the proposed increase in the rate of carbon tax on certain fuels from 1 May 2012. The new deduction is in addition to the existing deduction for carbon tax included in the cost of farm diesel used in the course of the farming trade.

As the Deputy will be aware, it is a longstanding practice of the Minister for Finance not to comment, in advance of the Budget, on any tax matters that might be the subject of Budget decisions.