Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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122. To ask the Minister for Finance to provide details on the beneficiary companies and the cost in tax expenditure of the operation of the tonnage tax in each year since 2011. [49741/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that Corporation Tax returns for the years 2011 and 2012, the latest full year available, indicate that the number of companies that returned profits under the tonnage tax regime was 38 and 39 respectively. As regards the names of the companies , the Revenue Commissioners' obligation to observe confidentiality for taxpayers precludes them from giving this information.

It is not possible to estimate the cost of the tonnage tax regime as the Corporation Tax returns are not structured in such a way to show the profits that would have been liable under the general corporation tax system for these companies. This would be necessary for the computation of the cost. However, as the companies concerned would be likely to avail of similar regimes in many other European countries in the absence of a tonnage tax regime here, any cost could only be considered a notional cost.