Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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105. To ask the Minister for Finance the treatment of the application of VAT on the final price for homes constructed for social housing purposes, including for approved housing bodies; the party that bears the final liability of VAT in this case; and the amount of VAT collected in 2014 and 2015 in respect of such transactions. [3721/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that under the EU VAT Directive (Council Directive 2006/112/EC) and Irish VAT legislation, the full consideration for the supply of all developed residential property is liable to VAT at the rate of 13.5%.  Specifically, Article 73 of the Directive provides that the taxable amount shall include everything which constitutes consideration obtained or to be obtained by the supplier, in return for the supply, from the customer or third party.

Property developers, who are registered for VAT, charge VAT on sales of developed residential property but are entitled to recover the VAT incurred in the development of that property. As such, the final customer who purchases a residential property incurs VAT at 13.5% on the consideration paid. 

I am further informed by the Revenue Commissioners that it is not possible to furnish precise figures of the amount of VAT collected from this activity. This is due to the fact that the information provided to Revenue on VAT returns does not require the yield from specific transactions or activities to be identified. While Revenue on occasion uses detailed Central Statistics Office consumption or expenditure information for VAT estimates, neither is sufficiently detailed for the purpose requested by the Deputy.