Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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66. To ask the Minister for Finance if he intends introducing a provision, whereby all invoices issued for farm contracting services, must carry a VAT number in order to discourage evasion of taxation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26368/13]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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67. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on whether it is reasonable that self-employed persons who are not VAT registered, can write cheques of up to €5,000 without having to provide back up invoices; the reason for this provision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26369/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 66 and 67 together.

I understand that these questions arise from an article in the Irish Independent on 28 May 2013 quoting Mr. Peter Farrelly of the Association of Farm Contractors of Ireland (FCI), stating, “Farmers have a special exemption with Revenue at the moment where they don't have to get a receipt from a contractor for any work done up to €5,000.” The article goes on to say that the FCI have proposed a system whereby farmers must be able to show a receipt for any work done by a contractor in order for it to qualify as a tax deductible expense.

I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that there is no such “special exemption” in existence. Farmers, similar to all self-employed individuals, registered for VAT or not, must be in a position to document all business expenses incurred prior to making any claim to a deduction for that expense against income in order to compute their chargeable income for tax purposes. I am further informed that the Revenue Commissioners met with Mr. Peter Farrelly and Mr. Timothy O'Brien of the FCI on 14 June 2012, and it was made clear at that time that no concession of this nature was in place.