Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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157. To ask the Minister for Finance the annualised interest rate applied on late payment and filing of P30 returns; the equivalent rate of interest applied in the UK and in other EU and OECD countries, in tabular form. [49094/17]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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158. To ask the Minister for Finance the annualised interest rate applied on late payment and filing of VAT returns; the equivalent rate of interest applied in the UK and in other EU and OECD countries, in tabular form. [49095/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 157 and 158 together.

I am advised by Revenue that statutory interest charges are designed to compensate the Exchequer for loss of revenue through late payment of tax, to encourage timely payments in future and to ensure equity for those taxpayers who pay on time.

The current annualised rate of statutory interest charged in respect of late P30 (PAYE/PRSI/USC/LPT) and VAT payments is 10%. This equates to a daily rate of 0.0274%. The 10% rate came into effect on 1 July 2009 as provided for by the Finance Act 2009. Prior to 1 July 2009 the rate was 12% per annum, which equated to a daily rate of 0.0322%.

For the Deputy’s additional information, the current rate of statutory interest charged in respect of late payment of Income Tax, Corporation Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Capital Acquisition Tax, Local Property Tax and Stamp Duty liabilities is 8% per annum (0.0219% per day).

It is not possible to provide an EU or OECD tabular breakdown in the manner requested by the Deputy because the systems operating across the various jurisdictions are not directly comparable. For example, some jurisdictions apply surcharges and penalties in addition to interest charges while others apply different rates for different taxes and for different periods of default.

In regard to the United Kingdom, the statutory interest rate in respect of late payments of tax is 3% Additional surcharges are also applied on a scaled basis depending on the level and frequency of default.