Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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124. To ask the Minister for Finance the cost of reducing VAT on bicycles to the lowest possible level. [28103/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The VAT rating of goods and services is subject to EU VAT law, with which Irish VAT law is obliged to comply. The Directive requires each Member State to maintain a standard rate of VAT, and permits a Member State to apply up to two reduced rates of VAT. On this basis, Ireland applies a standard rate of 23%, and two reduced rates of 13.5% and 9%.

In general, the EU VAT Directive provides that all goods and services are liable to VAT at the standard rate, unless they fall within the certain listed categories to which Member States may apply a lower rate. The supply of bicycles, including electric bikes, is one of the categories listed in Annex III of the Directive to which a Member State may choose to apply a reduced VAT rate of not lower than 5%. There are various rules under the Directive regarding the structure of VAT rates that a Member State applies and strict limits on the number of categories to which a Member State can apply its reduced VAT rates.

Ireland applies its standard rate, currently 23%, to the supply of bicycles including electric bicycles. Any proposal to apply one of Ireland’s reduced VAT rates to these supplies would need to be considered in the context of the annual Budget, and having regard to the limits on the number of categories to which the reduced rates can be applied. Revenue estimates that the cost of applying the 13.5% reduced rate to the supply of bicycles, including electric bikes, would be in the region of €8m per annum, and the cost of applying the 9% rate would be in the region of €12m per annum. In accordance with the Directive, it would not be possible to apply any other rate, unless Ireland were to substitute that rate for one of its existing two reduced rates, and this would affect all supplies currently taxed at that level; any such proposal would need to be carefully considered from Exchequer, policy, legislation, and operational perspectives.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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125. To ask the Minister for Finance the cost of reducing VAT to the lowest possible level on new imported electric vehicles from Britain [28105/25]

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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126. To ask the Minister for Finance The cost of reducing VAT to the lowest possible level on used imported electric vehicles from Britain [28106/25]

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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127. To ask the Minister for Finance the cost of providing a rebate on the VAT and customs charges placed on used imported electric vehicles from Britain. [28107/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 125, 126 and 127 together.

The VAT rating of goods and services is subject to EU VAT law, with which Irish VAT law is obliged to comply. In general, the EU VAT Directive provides that all goods and services are liable to VAT at the standard rate unless they fall within the certain listed categories to which Member States may apply a lower rate.

Motor vehicles are not included in the categories of goods and services on which the EU VAT Directive allows a lower rate of VAT to be applied, and so they are liable to VAT at the standard rate. There is no discretion under the Directive for Ireland to apply a reduced rate of VAT either to motor vehicles generally or to any particular group of them, such as new or used electric vehicles. The Directive does not provide scope either for a Member State to apply different VAT rates to goods depending on where they have been imported from.

Under EU VAT law, Member States are obliged to maintain a standard rate of VAT of at least 15%. Ireland’s standard rate is currently 23%. The rate of VAT applying to motor vehicles in Ireland could only change if the standard rate of VAT were changed, however, all goods and services currently taxed at the standard rate would also be subject to such a change. Any such proposal would need to be very carefully considered from Exchequer, policy, legislation, and operational perspectives. The Ready Reckoner published by Revenue on its website shows that a 1 percentage point reduction in the standard rate of VAT would cost in the region of €653m in a full year.

See: www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/documents/statistics/ready-reckoner.pdf

Used vehicle imports into the EU are generally subject to a customs duty of around 10% if their rules of origin indicate they were not manufactured in preferential countries like Britain and they are not eligible for any Customs Duty Relief provisions for example Returned Goods Relief. Based on the appropriate commodity code and the associated customs duties collected in 2024, it is estimated that providing a rebate of custom duties for electric vehicles imported from Britain would cost in the region of €0.5 million. However, it should be noted that as Customs is an EU competence and applies in all Member States, it is not possible for Ireland to implement any measures that are not provided for in EU Customs legislation.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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128. To ask the Minister for Finance the annual savings that would be achieved VRT relief was abolished for electric vehicles with a value in excess of €45,000. [28109/25]

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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132. To ask the Minister for Finance the annual savings that would be achieved VRT relief was abolished for electric vehicles with a value in excess of €40,000. [28118/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 128 and 132 together.

I am advised by Revenue that Vehicles with an Open Market Selling Price (OMSP) of up to €40,000 are granted VRT relief of up to €5,000 while Vehicles with an OMSP of greater than €40,000 but less than €50,000 receive a reduced level of VRT relief. Electric vehicles above €50,000 are not eligible for VRT relief.

The estimated annual savings that would be achieved if VRT relief was abolished for all electric vehicles with a value in excess of €40,000 and less than €50,000 and electric vehicles in excess of €45,000 and less than €50,000 is provided in the table below.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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129. To ask the Minister for Finance the estimated revenue that would be raised in one year if a levy of €1,000 was placed on every landing and departure of business aviation flights (executive/private jets) into and out of Ireland. [28110/25]

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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130. To ask the Minister for Finance the estimated revenue that would be raised in one year if a levy of €100 was placed on every landing and departure of business aviation flights (executive/private jets) into and out of Ireland. [28111/25]

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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131. To ask the Minister for Finance the estimated revenue that would be raised in one year if a levy of €10 was placed on the sale of first class and business class airline tickets. [28112/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 129, 130 and 131 together.

I am informed by Revenue that they do not hold any data in relation to airline ticket sales or flight data. There is no requirement for Revenue to collect this type of information for tax or compliance purposes and therefore they have no basis on which to estimate the revenue that would be raised by the introduction of a levy on the sale of first class and business class airline tickets or a levy on every landing and departure of business aviation flights (executive/private jets) into and out of Ireland.