Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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198. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the provision in the Finance Act 2009 that allowed value added tax be recoverable on costs incurred in acquiring and leasing passenger vehicles for business purposes; the costs of this measure on an annual basis since its inception; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20782/16]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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208. To ask the Minister for Finance regarding the provision in the Finance Bill 2009 that allowed value added tax to be recoverable on costs incurred in acquiring and leasing passenger vehicles for business purposes, the cost of this measure since its inception, by year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21210/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 198 and 208 together.

The provision referred to by the Deputy was introduced in the Finance (No 2) Act 2008, it provides that a VAT registered person may recover 20% of the VAT incurred on the purchase or leasing of a qualifying vehicle, subject to certain conditions.  To qualify, at least 60% of the vehicle's use must be for business purposes and the vehicle must have a level of CO₂ emissions of less than 165g/km. As the measure constituted a partial curtailment of a derogation in the VAT Directive enabling the restriction of VAT recoverability in Ireland on passenger vehicles, it may not be reversed.

I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that it is not possible to furnish precise figures on the Value Added Tax recoverable in relation to acquiring or leasing passenger vehicles for business purposes. This is due to the fact that information provided to Revenue on VAT returns does not require the yield from specific transactions or activities to be identified.

However it can be estimated that the cost of this provision, which allows for Value Added Tax be recoverable at a rate of 20%, is as provided in the table below. An estimated costing for 2015 will not be available until later in 2016.