Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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An individual who is resident or ordinarily resident, but not domiciled in the State, is subject to the “remittance” basis of tax on foreign income and gains. Under the remittance basis, such individuals pay tax on:

(1) Income and gains arising in Ireland,

(2) Foreign income which they “remit” or bring into the State, and

(3) Foreign gains where they remit into the State the proceeds from the sale which gave rise to the gain.

An individual who is subject to the remittance basis on foreign income or gain is required, under self-assessment provisions, to report the amount of the foreign income or gains which are remitted to the State in a tax return for the year in which the remittance occurs. It should be noted that the remittance basis only applies where such an individual has foreign income or gains for the year.

I understand that the UK has a similar tax regime in place for individuals who are not domiciled in the UK and that where such an individual wishes to claim remittance basis in the UK, they are required, under certain circumstances, to pay a charge to HMRC.

I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that, for Irish tax purposes, an individual who is not domiciled in the State must state so when completing an Irish tax return. Such individuals are not required to report whether he or she has availed of the remittance basis when completing a return. On this basis, it is not possible to provide an estimate of the revenue which would be generated by the introduction of a remittance charge (similar to the charge applied in the UK) in Ireland, as appropriate statistics are not available to confirm the numbers of taxpayers who avail of the remittance basis of tax.